Printer Friendly Version - Morgan Baseball Prepped to Take the Final Step in 2017

The Huskies will look to senior captain Cooper Thompson to anchor their pitching staff this year after he posted six victories with 1.23 earned-run average and 65 strikeouts last season. Photo by Kelley Fryer/Harbor News

The Morgan baseball team is looking for a little bit more this spring after making some major postseason noise the past two years. The Huskies graduated a few key contributors from last season, and so Head Coach John Litevich is hoping for this year’s seniors to take the reins and lead his squad on another memorable run.

Morgan finished last year with an overall record of 21-6, beating Portland in the Shoreline Conference quarterfinals before losing to Valley Regional in the semis. Then in the Class S State Tournament, Morgan defeated Westbrook, Lyman Memorial, The Sports and Medical Sciences Academy, and Cromwell to reach the final, where the Huskies lost to St. Paul. It was the second year in a row that Morgan lost in the state final and so Coach Litevich and company are aiming to get over that hump this season.

“Since I’ve been coaching baseball I’ve said the same thing: Our goal is to win the Shoreline championship and the state championship,” Coach Litevich said. “It’s all about winning. We’ve had good years the last two years, but we fell short of the ultimate goal of winning the tournaments.”

With the graduation of All-State pitcher Chad Neri, the Huskies will be heavily relying upon senior captain Cooper Thompson to anchor their starting rotation in 2017. Thompson went 6-4 with a 1.23 earned run average and 65 strikeouts in 68 innings pitched last season. Thompson’s fastball tops off in the mid-to-high 80-mile-per-hour range, and he’s already signed a National Letter of Intent to play for Division I Sacred Heart University in Fairfield.

Morgan’s other captain is senior shortstop Madden Ward, who’s looking to build off of a strong 2016 campaign where he hit .301 with a .485 on-base percentage and 34 runs scored, while also playing stellar defense. Thompson and Ward take over for last year’s captains, who were center fielder Will Fritz and All-State catcher Dylan Ketch. The duo has been through the postseason battles the last two seasons, and Coach Litevich thinks that’s a huge asset for his squad.

“Madden and Coop, they’ve both been to the state championships. They’re hungry. When you’ve been there and lost, you get hungry, and that’s to our advantage,” said Litevich. “It helps to have that experience getting to the pinnacle game and fall a little short. Sometimes players can be happy with just making it if you haven’t been there before, but these guys aren’t going to be satisfied with just making it this year. They want to win.”

Thompson and fellow senior John Urban should provide a formidable combo at the top of the Huskies’ pitching staff this season. Urban finished last year with a 5-1 record, a 0.48 ERA, and 36 strikeouts with just seven walks in 43.2 innings. However, with more stringent rules now in place regarding pitch counts in high school baseball across the country, every team will need more than just a 1-2 punch in its rotation.

“How far will our pitching take us? I’m pretty sure of the top two. We have to find that No. 3,” said Coach Litevich, who’s assistant coaches are Dan Litevich and Mike Spotts. “With the new pitch count rule, we’re really going to need to rely on 4 and 5 more and what they can bring us.”

Luckily for the Huskies, there are several players waiting in the wings to step up and do what’s necessary to help the team get victories. Litevich will look to get some of his more versatile athletes to take the mound this spring, such as Ward, senior right fielder/second baseman Drew Walton, junior Russ Green, and junior third baseman Nick Caprio. The coach feels grateful that he has the luxury to move players like senior corner infielder Tyler Borzillo and senior middle infielder Anthony Mongillo around to different spots on the diamond. The Huskies’ lineup will round out nicely with senior center fielder Harry White, senior catcher Aiden Esposito, and sophomore A.J. Fritz, a left fielder who will likely hit leadoff.

“This is probably the deepest team I have ever had,” said Litevich. “All these kids can play.”

As far as games that Coach Litevich is looking at on the calendar, there are a ton of them to circle as the Huskies will face a series of stiff tests throughout the season.

“The Shoreline League is vastly underrated in the state. We’re a really strong league. In the last seven years, someone from the Shoreline Conference has been to the final in each of those seasons,” said Coach Litevich. “Our out-of-conference schedule is going to be pretty tough this season, too, with East Catholic, East Lyme, and Guilford.”

As daunting as Morgan’s schedule is, Coach Litevich and his athletes aren’t backing down in the face of the challenge. The Huskies will keep plugging away and continue working toward their ultimate goal of winning both the Shoreline and state titles this year.

“We work hard. We’re a blue-collar team,” said Litevich. “I always take pride in the players we get out of Clinton. We’re the guys who get up early in the morning and get in that coal mine and start working. These guys work their tails off to reach their mutual goal.”

Senior captain Madden Ward is holding down the shortstop position this spring for the Morgan baseball team, which is coming off a campaign where it won 21 games and reached the Class S state final for the second straight year. Photo by Kelley Fryer/Harbor News