Haley Morgan: All the Pieces Have Fallen into Place
2/13/2024 2:00:00 PM | Softball
Haley Morgan's path to softball was not a direct one.
As a 7-year-old growing up in southern Oklahoma, she played on her older brother Brody's Little League baseball team that was coached by their dad.
"I played baseball because I wanted to do anything my brother was doing," Morgan said. "I was trying to be just like him."
Before long, Morgan's athleticism caught the eye of a softball coach who introduced her to the sport where she has shined for the past 16 years, culminating with a standout career at the University of Tulsa.
A fifth-year senior outfielder, Morgan is ranked as one of the top 10 players in the American Athletic Conference. She has a .337 batting average and .983 fielding percentage while playing almost exclusively in center field. Last year as the leadoff hitter, Morgan propelled the Hurricane with 60 hits and 32 RBI.
In this year's opening weekend, Morgan batted .333 with five hits and four RBI for a .533 slugging percentage and was 2-for-2 on stolen base attempts.
"The cornerstone of our outfield starts with Haley Morgan," coach Crissy Strimple said. "She's the general out there, making sure the right and left fielders are lined up where they need to be. She has always done a great job of being a vocal leader and covering the ground she needs to."
Morgan's success has been the result of skill and dedication. In addition to helping Durant High School to four state tournament appearances, she played on the elite Texas Glory team for a decade, honing her craft and becoming a student of the game.
By the time she was in junior high, Morgan was known by college softball coaches in the region. Strimple, then TU's associate head coach, saw Morgan play as an eighth-grader and was among the first coaches to show recruiting interest.
"She followed me and followed me and kept in contact and kept wanting me to come on campus, and TU ended up offering me," Morgan said. "I came on my unofficial (visit) and just loved everything about it. And it turns out she took over as head coach literally right before I got to campus. So all the pieces fell right into place."
Being less than three hours from home was a significant perk for Morgan, whose parents Roger and Julia and younger brother Dalton have attended all of her TU games in the past four years — both home and away.
"They're amazing," Morgan said. "They are the reason that I am who I am, that I'm the athlete I am. I have that support on and off the field every single day. And they're my outlet, for sure." Morgan's dad has become the softball aficionado, helping with preparation before every game and breaking down every at-bat afterward. In between, she hears his voice in her head.
"He's always focused on slowing the game down, staying within myself, sticking to my strengths," Morgan said. "Just because something might not be going the way we want it to doesn't mean I get outside of what I'm best at. I need to stick to what I can do, what I know and have a positive mindset. He'll always say, 'You've got to stay positive.'"
Morgan is an unwavering presence for the Hurricane early in the 2024 campaign, one filled with optimism because of how the team finished last season and because of the key pieces back — four infield starters, three outfield starters and a deeper pitching staff.
"We know we have something to prove," Morgan said. "We know that we can beat anybody. That's kind of what we're striving toward this season, just being the best we can be every single weekend, every single game.
"We're a team that's full of fight. We kind of showed that at the end of last season, and so we're ready to do that again."
Behind the scenes, Morgan is that leader every team needs, being the hardest worker in practice, communicating with teammates in the outfield and setting the tone with the first at-bat.
"I just want to do anything I can to help the team," she said. "I want to be able to be that leader on and off the field … and just focus on playing any role I need to — whether it's getting on base, whether it's hitting people in, whether it's to kind of settle us down as a team and stay calm and collected."
Also a track athlete in high school who twice placed third in the 400 meter at state, Morgan uses her speed to fly around the outfield and to run the bases. She's a consistent threat to steal, helped by her penchant for strategy.
"There are so many areas that it takes to steal a base that may get a little bit overlooked when thinking about stealing," she said. "But I love the feeling once I've stolen a base because then I know if I make it to second base, I'm in scoring position and the likelihood that I'll come around to score is much higher.
"I'm always determined if I get on first. I'm looking at Crissy every time, hoping that she'll give me the signal that I could steal or if I read something that I know I'm going this pitch. Anything I can read to then get into scoring position is a big success."
Morgan is finishing up her undergraduate degree this semester and is planning to pursue professional softball after graduation. Her priority these days is on finishing out her time at TU on a high note.
"It's really fun to look at the past years and see how far I've come and how I've transformed as a player and continue to grow as a person and athlete," she said. "I'm really just focused on enjoying the time I have left with my teammates, my coaches, and playing the game I love. I just want to enjoy every moment."
