by Mike Terlizzi
Morris who resides at the same house he always has in Bellmore, played shortstop and outfield for Mepham High School in 1975 and 76 but never went on to play baseball at the college level, instead opting to work part time.
If there is 1 regret I have in my life, it's that I took that part time job, instead of playing college baseball, said the Sailor coach.
Morris' brother John not only played college ball, but also played 7 years in the major leagues, and is now a minor league coach with the Philadelphia Phillies. Having my brother play in the Majors, made it tough, and made me regret my decision even more.
When Morris started coaching 8 years ago, he had a win at all costs attitude, an attitude that he says has changed in the past few years.
When I first started, I yelled, I screamed, and winning was all that was important, character came second. I realized this wasn't the way to go, Morris said. We had talent, but no chemistry, we had to worry about what the kids were doing wrong on and off the field, it wasn't a good situation.
Morris who has won State and County championships in back to back years, attributes his new attitude to the success of Oceanside. The first thing we look for now, is character, we want character players first, players that will build team chemistry. We have good character guys on this team, John Jata is a vocal leader, Vinny Pumo leads us on the field, Joey Pumo is very vocal, and Dom Domenico is a leader, and he is one of the top students in his class. Winning, according to the coach is important, but I want to be proud of the kids who put on these uniforms, and I am.
Of course character is important, but when you are 48-8 in your last 56 games, and have 2 championships on your resume, you must also have talented players.
In the past 3 years, we have had some excellent players come through here, a few who will be drafted. We had 2 All Americans in Nick Conte and Bill Weitzman (Briarcliffe). We had an All County catcher in Brendan Harrison (Central Connecticut). We had an all conference pitcher in Brendan Springspud (Pamona Spitzer), and an underrated player in John Alto (Nassau Community College).
Coach Morris knows he has a tough year ahead, losing many key players from last year, acknowledging that each and every team will be gunning for the Sailors. He tries to keep things in perspective, and at the same time keeps a positive attitude amongst himself, his coaches, and players.
All I want and expect out of my team is that they show up all the time, and do what they need to do. We kept 22 kids this year, which is a lot, and that upset a few of the players but the character of these players will come out, and those are the kids who will play.
Coach Morris lets the strength of his character shine through on the ball field, and hopes his kids respond to it. He tries to set good examples for his players, and knows they will be watching his every move with wide eyes.
I try not to lose my temper, Morris says. I used to scream, and really get on my players, now I am much calmer than I used to be. Coach Andy Morris says he no longer rides the emotion but instead stays even tempered.
We here at Oceanside have a one word motto, that defines our team, that one word is
