It takes a special talent to come in and unseat a two-year starter but that’s what junior college transfer Adrian Morales has been tabbed to do. Head coach Ray Tanner has lofty expectations for the Miami-Dade CC transfer to come in and seat incumbent Scott Wingo and take over the two-spot in the batting order. But the first step is to get him to campus.
For Morales, baseball has been a series of small steps. Coming out of high school, he didn’t have any Division I offers and instead opted to go the junior college route. That was step one.
Step two was to succeed at that level. As a freshman, he hit over .400 and earned All-Gulf District honors. But still, Morales went undrafted in his second year of being draft eligible.
A second-year player, Morales earned second team honors in the FCCAA Southern Conference and was finally selected in the MLB Draft last week.
“I went kind of where I expected being picked in the late rounds,” Morales said. “I was just happy the Astros picked me up. I had never been drafted so I was happy I was drafted.”
So far, that is the biggest of the little steps that Morales has taken thus far.
“I was ecstatic,” Morales said. “I was very happy and proud of myself. It’s just little steps going forward. I didn’t get drafted after my first year in junior college. I was drafted after being a preseason All-American and it’s just another step in working my way to where I want to be.”
Morales now has to figure out if he’s happy at that point. Like most players deciding between school and the professional ranks, the hard-nosed infielder will decided based primarily on the signing bonus offered by Houston, which took him in the 45th round.
That signing bonus still has the opportunity to increase. The Astros are trying to place Morales on a summer league team and will follow his progress throughout. Should he play well, the dollar figure offered will go up.
“They’re supposed to send me a contract right now in the mail,” Morales said. “I won’t have sign it. They want to see me a little summer ball. They’re looking for a team for me.”
Contract talks could drag out a while and Morales will be patient. Until that happens though, Morales is a Gamecock with his eyes set towards South Carolina. He will enroll in the fall and room with fellow junior college transfer
Jose Mata.
“I’m just going to ride it out and wait and see,” Morales said. “I’m going to hope for the best. If it’s not life-changing money, I’m not going to take it. USC is a great program, the SEC is a great conference, and why not play there? I’m ecstatic about playing for USC.”
That big step of going from undrafted to drafted in the late rounds could become a giant leap if Morales decides to enroll at South Carolina. Don’t believe me? Just ask Justin Dalles, who improved his selection by 20 rounds with one year at USC.
Morales’s goal is to prove he can be an elite second baseman in the Southeastern Conference. Tanner recently said he sees Morales starting at second and hitting in the two-hole in the lineup. That’s a challenge the right-hander will take head on.
“I want to play against the best and I want to be one of the best hitters on our team,” Morales said. “I want to be the guy to come through in the clutch situations. I want to play against the best and the SEC is the best. I want to get the best out of me.”
Morales brings that drive to succeed with him to the plate every at-bat.
“I’m a fighter,” Morales said. “I’m not an easy out. I’m a little guy but I got some power.”
In the field, he brings that same scrappy mentality and it works for him. Morales describes himself as not the greatest of fielders but the numbers prove otherwise.
“I’ve got pretty good range and pretty good hands,” Morales said. “I’m not the smoothest guy out there but I make the plays. I only had two errors this year so I get the job done. It may not always be pretty but I get it done.”
Should Morales supplant Wingo, he’ll form a double play combination with former junior college opponent Bobby Haney. The two faced off in games with Haney a standout at Manatee CC.
But next season, they’ll join forces in the middle of the infield.
“We’ll be real comfortable out there as a double play combo,” Morales said. “I can adjust to him, he can adjust to me. He’s a great ball player so there will be some minor adjustments to each other but that will be it.”
Before that can happen, the Gamecocks will have to sweat it out a bit until August 17, the day in which Morales has to sign. When he takes the next step is yet to be seen.
