Spotlight dims quickly

Future athletic success or recognition is not guaranteed, even if both came in the past. The Peyton Manning of the local high school football team may never take a snap in college.

This is the message Eden Morris knows all too well. It’s one some local graduating seniors soon will learn.

A former Dalton High softball player who twice received honorable mention for The Daily Citizen’s All-Area Softball Team, Morris received a full athletic scholarship to Texas A&M and enrolled there in August 2008. However, her college career did not go entirely as planned.

After starting with big dreams of playing early — or at least getting an opportunity later on — her duties eventually became bullpen catching and pushing teammates to be better, she said. Her slow or nonexistent progress up the Aggies’ softball food chain made things tough for her, both on the field and off.

But Morris believes she’s better because of her time in College Station.

“I went through things that I never thought I would go through and it made me stronger because of that,” she said. “Yeah, I could’ve had a very successful softball career, but then I wouldn’t have had the experiences that I had.”

The 2007 Dalton graduate played catcher in high school but first received attention from Texas A&M while playing shortstop in Seattle, Wash., for the Georgia Elite, a Lawrenceville-based travel team. When the Aggies’ starting second baseman and shortstop were both injured toward the end of her freshman season, she got an opportunity at second base. Those were her only starts in college.

“One of my only stats was I had a perfect fielding percentage,” she said, “but when that second baseman came back, I didn’t play anymore that season.”

Although Morris got all of her starts at second, catcher was Morris’ main position even though she was listed in a 2009 Texas A&M media guide as a utility player. Morris believes one of the reasons she struggled to get playing time at the position was because of size. At 5 feet, 11 inches and 155 pounds, Morris is not bulky, like many college catchers. When she arrived, there was only one catcher ahead of her — a 5-8, 180-pound senior.

When a 6-foot, 200-pound freshman catcher named Meagan May entered the fold during Morris’ sophomore year, it relegated her to more time on the bench. She was putting in the work, but it was as if the team didn’t notice her, she said.

“So I got really offended when no one would let me speak and no one would let me voice my experience,” she said. “My freshman and sophomore years, I was very passive.”

In summer 2009, Morris was the only eligible catcher and the only one used during practice. She had to arrive at practice a couple hours early to get treated for knee pains, then had to catch for pitchers before practice started.

She had to catch during each hitter’s round of batting practice, and she still was “on call” after practice if any pitcher wanted to keep throwing. The work took its toll on her, but it also made her believe it would result in a bigger role in the future.

However, as she headed into her junior season, Morris felt she had not gained attention or recognition from coaches or teammates. The Aggies brought in another highly regarded catcher who was expected to be the future at the position.

“It got to the point where they didn’t even use me for drills,” said Morris, who battled nagging injuries. “I was an extra, so all the girls would be running bases and I’d be a foe outfielder for them. It got to the point where I’d be like, ‘Well, I’m in the role they want me to be. I’m here to make those girls better.’ That was my job, and I accepted that.”

Things weren’t great off the field, either. Both of her maternal grandparents passed away, and she missed one of the funerals because she was concerned about missing practice. Then, a close cousin had his leg amputated and she wasn’t present for the operation for the same reason.

Finally, in February 2011, the same day of her cousin’s amputation, Morris was dismissed from the program “for team rule violations.” (Morris would not specify the reasons for her dismissal.)

She spent the next year completely away from the sport.

“When I stopped playing softball, I was very upset for a very long time, because it was so disappointing,” she said. “You work so hard your entire life to be really well known in the North Georgia area, and then to have such a disappointing career, it was hard. I kept thinking about all the other schools that really wanted me, that were going to the College World Series and were better than Texas A&M. I kept thinking, ‘What if I went there?’”

It took months to finally get over it, but one day this spring she woke up and made a mental decision. She was done pitying herself, and she was finished with the softball side of her life. She even turned down opportunities to play elsewhere when past coaches reached out to her.

“Even when I stopped playing, I wanted my degree,” she said. “Even one of my former coaches (high school catching instructor) called me. She was at a school in New York and I had two years of eligibility left and she knew how good I was and said, ‘I want you to play for me.’ I said, ‘I picked this because it’s a good school. I’m going to stay.’ And I stayed, and I graduated. I’m so proud of myself because each year was up and down.”

Morris is happy with how things turned out. She graduated with a psychology degree and wants to pursue a masters in sports nutrition at Georgia State University. She will take some prerequisite science courses in College Station while working in a psychology lab until December to prepare for her graduate studies.

She still gets aches and pains, but after the trials and tribulations of suffering injuries despite not playing much, Morris learned a lot about herself and what she wants to, and can, accomplish.

Going through any hardship often causes one to mature at a quicker pace. That is psychology 101.

Morris approached The Daily Citizen with an interest in talking about her college career. It seemed as if she wanted to open up and finally let everything go. She seemed like she wanted to tell her story from start to finish, which she probably has done many times before, but wanted to do so this time while voicing a message to others about to make a similar jump to college athletics.

There are a number of local athletes who recently graduated and have bright futures. They signed athletic scholarships or entered verbal agreements to play baseball, basketball, football or any other sport at the next level, and the dreams are big and grand.

Some will live up to those dreams, but for most it is simple.

“You’re not going to be the star,” Morris said. “You can be the star in a small town like this, but when you go to college, all of those kids are the stars.”

So to the Josh Swinfords, the Tristen Harrells, the Maggie Peeples, the Brendie Rockholts, the Levi Sams, and others: prepare yourself for hardships, do well in school and hit the field not to be a star but because you love playing and find something else you love.

Work hard and practice motivated, with something to prove, but know it might not immediately, if ever, pay off. It’s a different playing field.

Morris will tell you that.

Devin Golden is a sports writer for The Daily Citizen. You can write to him at devingolden@daltoncitizen.com.

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Spotlight dims quickly

Eden Morris moves past her time at Texas A&M

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