Amazing freshman performance by Preston Morrison

Wow! Preston Morrison (2011 Cuthbertson) is totally dominating batters for TCU as he plows through lineup after lineup. Preston is a top shelf pitcher who was not recruited by the big name schools here in NC & SC because he was a 80-84 mph righty. It didn't seem to matter that he could place pitches on all edges of the strike zone, mix speeds and make the ball move like a butterfly uncertain about landing.

All he has done is go 9-0 with a microscopic 1.55 ERA. In his most recent outing, he pitched a complete game 1-hitter against San Diego State....I assume with Tony Gwynn in the other dugout trying to figure out how to hit this kid. He also owns a win over Cal State Fullerton and other high caliber programs if I would just look them up.

Here is a brief summary of what this kid has done:

• perfect 9-0 record
• leads the nation with a WHIP of .76
• ERA of 1.55 (8th in Div 1 nationally)
• only given up 8 walks in over 90 innings pitched
• Named Conference Pitcher of the Year and Freshman of the Year
• Named Conference Player of the week three times

Preston likes to model his pitching after Greg Maddux and it looks like he is off to a good start in building a similar resume. As I recall, he was somewhat overshadowed by his HS teammate and didn't make a big splash when the end of year all star teams were announced by the Charlotte Observer and other smaller publications. Many 2011s came out with more fanfare, but IMO Preston's performance and results are unmatched. Amazing performance against top shelf competition.....great lesson for pitchers who can master the art of pitching while ignoring the radar gun.

All-American performance it seems to me!

Here is a link to a great profile from the Star-Telegram (mentions On Deck coach Bo Robinson).

http://www.star-telegram.com/2012/05/22/3979475/tcu-pitcher-preston-morrison-baffles.html

 

It's been a lot of fun following Preston's success this season! As is customary for freshmen at major college programs, he started out the year unsure of his role...perhaps mid-week starter, perhaps weekend reliever, perhaps some of both. However, it didn't take him long to become a fixture in TCU's weekend rotation!

As my son likes to say, "You have to make them (the coaches) HAVE to give you the ball." Preston Morrison has accomplished that in spades in his first college season.

His dad tells me that he's going to pitch for the Gastonia Grizzlies of the Coastal Plain League this summer. You ought to get out to see him pitch if you can.

 

EPIC FAIL to L&S - suggest protection

Has nothing to do with morrison, but Robinson is a long time ON DECK/CBC original.....word on the street is that shaffer is after low low.... good info on player, but epic fail on link comment.... run low, run! (sorry, sloth's can't run...my bad)

 

Thanks Braves.

 

Let's leave the personal attacks off the board. I don't know why anyone is attacking L&S. He's been a great contributor to this board for years. We are fortunate to have him.

 

Fixed it....

I was at the Hough/Mallard Creek game and someone corrected me on the mistake I made about Bo Robinson being with SC Panthers when I should have said On Deck...heck, I was so pumped up about Preston's amazing performance it is a wonder I didn't make more mistakes.

This thread is about acknowledging what a kid can do when he sticks with it and has plan for pitching...

 

Great for Preston, great post. The more I watch college baseball this year, the more I see low to mid 80's guys having success. Some pitchers just know how to get it done without throwing 90. I know my hitters in the past rather see 88-90 than a guy throwing 78-84 with 4 quality pitches.
I always loved watching Maddox toss on TBS back in the day in Atlanta with that huge strike zone. (a little home cookin never hurt)

 

Great numbers and sounds like my kind of guy on the bump.....it also helps to have a pitching guru like Schlossnagle as his skipper.....was a camper way back in the day at Elon and Schloss knew a s--t load about how to pitch....

 

More accolades for the young Frosh........

Preston was named Louisville Slugger All-American 3rd Team! I believe there were only 2 Freshman. Rodon (another NC boy) made the first team.

http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/unc/sports/m-basebl/auto_pdf/2011-12/misc_non_event/2012LSAA.pdf