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09/06/2018 12:00 AMAJ Fritz was a leader in the outfield for the Morgan baseball team this spring. Now, AJ is ready to step into an even bigger leadership role when he captains the squad as a senior next season.
AJ, a center fielder, is entering his senior year at Morgan, where he helped a young Huskies’ club scratch its way into the playoffs with first-year Head Coach Michael Grant. This summer, AJ contributed to a great campaign for another pack of Huskies. AJ batted .396 with 15 RBI and 14 stolen bases for the Clinton Huskies 18-U AAU baseball team, which finished with a record of 11-9.
“It’s been my dream to be a captain since I was a freshman. It’s a great honor, and I will treat it with respect,” says AJ. “I have to be a role model to the younger guys on the team and play as hard as I can for this team.”
AJ has learned a lot about what it takes to lead a team as a result of patrolling center field. When it comes to playing such a pivotal position, AJ says that he’s always ready for anything to happen at a moment’s notice.
“You have to always be ready. You are the captain of the outfield and the last line of defense. You have to be on your toes at all times,” AJ says. “You have to know which pitch is coming, so the outfielders can field the ball right.”
Through the course of his high-school career, AJ believes that he’s seen the most growth with his mental approach to the game. AJ started off as a timid freshman who was simply trying to avoid making errors. However, he’s progressed into a veteran who constantly lays it on the line for Morgan.
“When I started out as a freshman, my mindset was just trying not to mess up. I played scared and was small and scrawny,” AJ says. “I started to think more about how can I help the team and make it better. From there, that mindset really helped me get better.”
AJ’s father, Will Fritz, is the head coach of the Clinton Huskies’ AAU team. Fritz says that AJ got out to a late start as an outfielder, but quickly made up for lost time on the strength of an excellent work ethic.
“Going into his freshman year at Morgan, AJ hadn’t played an inning in the outfield besides a Little League All-Star game when he was 12. He wanted a shot to start, and there was an outfield position up for grabs, so he had me and his brothers go up to Morgan and hit ball after ball to him in the outfield,” says Coach Fritz. “The kid works hard and wants to succeed in everything he does. AJ is also the type of guy you can count on to be a leader on and off the field. He is a good student and a good friend.”
AJ says that Morgan went through an adjustment period during the opening phases of the 2018 campaign. However, AJ was pleased to see the team find its footing during the middle of the season and feels confident that Morgan is going to once again become a contender in 2019.
“It was tough at the start of the season, because we had a new coach and had to get used to his ways of coaching, but we started to buy in and play better,” says AJ. “We have high hopes for next year. We can do better, and I believe we can play for a Shoreline Conference title next year and make a run in states.”