NC State softball (23-20, 4-11 ACC) looked to change things up this past offseason after finishing 2018 with a mere .426 winning percentage. First-year head coach Jennifer Patrick-Swift, who took the Saint Francis Red Storm to the conference championship in 2017 and 2018, was brought in to shake things up for the better.
A few new players came into the program as well to help initiate a more productive season and sophomore third baseman Logan Morris arguably sits atop that list in terms of contribution.
Coming in as a transfer from USC Upstate, Morris led the Spartans with a .364 batting average and 47 RBIs in her freshman season, and was a unanimous selection for the ASUN All-Freshman Team with a top-seven ranking in slugging percentage, on-base percentage and home runs.
Morris found her love for the game at an early age when she started off playing baseball, then made the transition to softball around the age of 12.
“I like winning,” Morris said. “I like the competitive nature of it, and it’s fun. You get to meet new people, you get to go to new places and it just kind of stuck.”
Currently, for the Wolfpack, Morris is hitting .257, batting in 20 runs but like any true competitor, Morris feels she has room to grow in regards to what she brings to NC State.
“Well right now, it looks to be my defense,” Morris said. “Like making some good plays at third and just really talking with the team. Letting them know, ‘Hey, we got two’ or just really communicating well on the field. Obviously, I’ve got to get my bat there, but we’ll get there.”
Morris’ bat isn’t stale by any means as she sits at eight home runs on the season, second only to junior Brigette Nordberg, a Maryland transfer. When Nordberg took notice to Morris, she knew that Morris would be hardworking and diligent.
“I knew that she was a heck of a player,” Nordberg said. “Just the way that she carries herself, she’s very confident and I knew that she worked hard. After the first week of practice, she was working extra and I was like, ‘Okay, this girl is good and she knows what she’s doing.’ But I definitely love the fact that she carries herself very confidently and I knew before then, when she played at [USC Upstate], she was doing really well there. So, I was just excited.”
Competitive drive is what fuels Morris. In one game while playing for the Carolina Elite, a 14u Premier team, Morris and her former teammates found themselves close to victory, only to lose late in the game, becoming a memory that has stuck with her to this day.
“We were playing this really good team down in California and we were getting after them,” Morris said. “We had them beat. We were going into the seventh inning like 3-1 and then we just let it go. Normally, people wouldn’t let a memory like that stick with you, be your best one, but that really drove me to keep pushing and be the best I can, really work for it. Nothing hurt more than knowing that. Knowing you had a top team like that beat and then have it taken away from you because you just weren’t good enough or you weren’t prepared enough.”
Morris’ focus on both offensive and defensive gameplay has struck a chord with fellow teammates as they have noticed her commitment to being a balanced player as she finds herself in one of the more difficult positions to play in the infield.
“She’s definitely a big power-hitter, which of course is good with the home-run mindset and I also think she has solid defense on the field,” Nordberg said. “It’s really important for her to have that and being at third base you know, the hot corner, getting good shots hit at you. So, her just being controlled and confident in herself at third base, that really brings a lot to the team.”
Recruiting a promising player like Morris would take the right kind of environment and coaching staff and that’s exactly what the Pack offered.
“You know, I really like the family atmosphere,” Morris said. “How well they work together and of course with [assistant coach Chelsea Wilkinson] being on this staff, they have good players. They have a good coaching staff that really drew me in. I was ready.”
NC State softball is above .500 but it will have to come up with some conference series clinchers as it has three left on the season. While qualifying for a regional may not be realistic, the Wolfpack have a chance to make a run in the ACC Tournament.
“Right now it’s definitely building here with the new coaches but we can get after it,” Morris said. “We still have a chance to make the ACC Tournament and shock some people like we did our first weekend against Arizona. So, I think it will be exciting.”
