It could be said that nobody saw it coming. Yes, Kansas State coach Brad Hill was slowly building something within the Wildcat baseball team for sometime, but in 2009 his program made some considerable noise.
Just one year ago in the middle of all of it all was A.J. Morris, who helped to alter the landscape and history of K-State baseball. As part of a marquee team during a turnaround season, the junior helped put both himself and the Wildcat program on the on the map.
It was a season in which the Wildcats received their first-ever postseason NCAA regional berth, while setting numerous school records in the midst of a flagship 43-win season.
"We just learned to buy into believing and going to the field and expecting to win, not hoping to win," Morris said in an interview with The Mercury this week. "If we are going out there for nine innings, we are going to win the ballgame. I think that attitude started to carry over into the K-State program. It's the only way to play baseball. When you play like that, a lot of good things happen, as you can tell this year. Obviously they are doing the same thing."
Taking the mound each Friday evening in 2009 under the lights at Tointon Family Stadium, Morris was the dominating force, and the headline story during the Wildcats' sudden rise in college baseball.
"Every time you step on the field you want to have the expectation to win," Hill said. "A.J. was a big part of that, and when he was on the mound you knew we had that."
Throughout that season, the 6-foot-2 junior was a turnaround story in himself too. Just one year earlier Morris finished with just a 4-4 record and an ERA over 6.00. Yet the Humble, Texas native completed the Wildcats' historic 2009 season with an incredible 14-1 record and an ERA of just 2.09.
"Last year to be a part of something that happened for the first time in school history, I mean, nobody can take that away from that team," said Morris, who is now pitching for the Class A Potomac Nationals.
With the sudden incredible breakout season, Morris caught the attention of not only the teams he faced in non-conference and Big 12 play, but the entire country.
His season resulted in a finalist selection for the 2009 Golden Spikes Award, given to college baseball's most outstanding player. Stephen Strasburg, a junior from San Diego State and the first overall selection of the 2009 Major League Baseball First-Year Player draft, won the award.
However, just to be in the conversation with Strasburg as a finalist for the prestigious award was something Morris took great pride in.
"It's something special," Morris said. "Stephen is an unbelievable pitcher. It was just an honor to be mentioned in there with those guys. It was a cool experience that I will never forget."
And so, Morris was rewarded for his own breakout year alongside Strasburg. With the impressive season, Morris was selected in the fourth round of the draft by the Washington Nationals — the same organization that picked Strasburg, who has been nothing but phenomenal in his first three big league starts.
"Every child who plays baseball wants (to make it) to the big-league game," Morris said. "To finally get the opportunity to get there and start playing is a blast. I enjoy it, I'm fortunate for the opportunity."
Morris is now in his second year of playing pro baseball with the Nationals organization. After beginning his career playing for the rookie league Gulf Coast Nationals, he has worked his way up to the Class A Advanced Potomac Nationals (Woodbridge, Va.) in the Carolina League.
For Morris it's been a rewarding and challenging rise through the ranks of the minor leagues.
"It just takes the same approach that got you there, attacking hitters, and letting your defense work behind you," Morris said.
"You learn to pitch on five days rest instead of seven, which is a little bit of a change.
"You have to learn to deal with the bumps and bruises like that, and you don't really want to get away from what helped you be successful. You just kind of take that and mold it and try to improve."
In March, Morris attended his first spring training camp in Melbourne, Fla.
"It was a great experience," he said. "You get a lot of feedback from people and head guys and pitching coaches. They all pretty much know what they're talking about, or they wouldn't be in that position. You just kind of take what you can learn and add it to your game and just try to improve and move up."
This season, with the Potomac Nationals, Morris has a 1-2 record with a 3.91 ERA through 10 starts. However, in his most recent start on June 3 against the Wilmington Blue Rocks, Morris was forced to leave the game after a line drive struck him in the calf.
He is currently undergoing treatment for the injury and is hopeful to return to the mound soon.
"We are still just waiting for it to heal," he said. "As soon as I can start to run on it, I can pitch. It's just a lot of treatment and I'm trying to get ready."
But above all, Morris is proud of what he left behind at K-State. The now-pro pitcher in the Carolina League took time to visit the Wildcat program he left behind as they played an early March non-conference game in Florida this spring. It was during Nationals spring training and the proximity allowed him to visit with Hill and the team.
He was proud of what he saw that sunny weekend in Winter Haven, Fla. After all, it's a program and slowly rising baseball tradition that he himself helped to build just a year ago.
"It's a good feeling," Morris said. "It's nice to see that you do something for the first time, and it's not a one-hit wonder. It's a new tradition and it's something that each and every player coming into that program is going to be expected to live up to, and they're doing a good job of it so far."
As for himself, Morris is continuing to live the dream he has chased for his entire life. The dream that has landed him a job doing something that he loves.
"Getting to have a job that I dream of — playing baseball," Morris said. "I get to do it everyday. Some people have to wake up and have real jobs, I get to play baseball. I couldn't ask for anything better."
- Photos Courtesy of The Potomac Nationals
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