Cole Morgan, Stuttgart

An elbow injury cut short Cole Morgan's time on the mound this spring. It failed to stop him from hitting the books or the baseball.

"I always made time to study," said Morgan, who batted .438 for the Stuttgart Ricebirds. "A lot of our practices were late in the afternoon. I just made sure I got all of my studying done before practice started."

Morgan admitted he had overused his arm the previous year. He had surgery earlier this year and now says his arm "feels great."

"I had put too much stress on it," Morgan said. "I learned a lot from that experience."

While it was tough not being able to start on the mound, the injury did not keep Morgan off the field. He played shortstop for the Ricebirds, compiling a .438 batting average with 1 home run, 6 doubles and 25 RBI.

Limited to less than 20 innings on the mound this season, Morgan struck out 38 batters while walking only 5. His ERA was 1.32.

Despite the injury, Morgan found Delta State University in Cleveland, Miss., an interested party for his talents. The Statesmen signed the 5-7 pitcher to a national letter of intent.

"They have a tradition there and a coach (Mike Kinnison) who's been there for more than 20 years," Morgan said. "It's got great facilities and they have a very stable program. That was something that's very important to me."

Morgan plans to major in business at Delta State. He said he enjoys anything related to the financial field.

"A friend of my family, who is a financial adviser, talked to me about it one day and I really like what he did," Morgan said. "I'm good at math, and I think I would like to help people make their money grow."

Morgan also was a good golfer for the Ricebirds. He tied for fourth in the Class 4A state meet, firing a 77 at the Stuttgart Country Club.

"To be honest with you, golf messes up your baseball swing," Morgan said. "But I like playing it, and I still do it."

Sports on 07/16/2017