Every other week, Nevada Sports Net will spotlight a local athlete as part of our “Legendary Athletes” series, which is presented in partnership with Legends Bay Casino. Today’s featured athlete is Nevada baseball alum Kade Morris, who is pitching with the Triple-A Las Vegas Aviators and recently came through Reno and pitched at Greater Nevada Field.

Nevada baseball alum Kade Morris knew he wanted to pitch in the major leagues at an early age after watching his idol, future Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw, pitch in person for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

So, when the Turlock, Calif., native saw Kershaw pitching at the same level — Triple-A — as him this season during a rehab start earlier this year, it was surreal.

“It’s everything you dreamed of,” Morris said during last week’s stop at the Reno Aces’ Greater Nevada Field. “I used to go to Dodger games when I was a little kid, see Kershaw pitch, and be, like, ‘I want that to be me.’ There’s a rehab stint that he was doing in OKC, and being able to say, ‘I’m on the same field as Kershaw now. I’m living out my dream. And now it’s my choice to go out there and make it.’ I think that piece of seeing your idol on the same field as you is cool.”

Morris is one step from the majors after being promoted from Double-A Midland to Triple-A Las Vegas in his first full season in the Athletics’ organization. The 6-foot-3, 190-pound right-handed pitcher was the No. 101 pick of the 2023 draft, landing a $666,500 bonus from the New York Mets, but was shipped to the A’s at last year’s trade deadline in exchange for veteran pitcher Paul Blackburn.

“At the time, it felt like heartbreak,” Morris said. “Like, you got divorced or something like that. Just kind of taking myself out of it and realizing, ‘Yeah, it is a business,’ and there is a business side of it. Understanding that early. I can’t control that stuff. I can only control what I put out on the field and the type of teammate I am. Understanding that and really taking that for this year and using that for this year has helped me a lot.”

Morris dominated Double-A this season, pitching to a 2.79 ERA in nine starts that covered 51.2 innings. Since his summer promotion to Las Vegas and the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League, Morris has gone 7-7 with a 5.46 ERA in 18 starts. In two full seasons as a pro, Morris has proven durable with 136 innings pitched last year and 144 more this season. Against the Aces last week, he allowed just two runs over five innings, striking out three.

“Playing baseball every single day, you learn a lot,” Morris said. “You learn a a lot about your body. You learn what plays, what doesn’t. Just being surrounded by the game every day, it’s helped me out a lot. In college, you have to navigate being a student and being an athlete, and that’s a tough piece that people don’t talk about a lot is that school piece. So, being able to involve myself in what I love, just being able to make my craft even better than what it was, I fell in love with the process.

“I’m always excited on game day. I love to pitch, so it feels like Christmas Eve night before I pitch every night. Having that mentality of showing up to the field and getting able to play today, there’s no other feeling. I love start day. I take it serious. And if I only get to play one game a week, why not leave it all out there?”

Morris will not get the call to the major leagues this season with there being a little more than a week left in the year. But he knows he’s close to being the next Wolf Pack player to make his big-league debut and has set high goals for when he does get there.

“Just work on what I can control, work on becoming a polished pitcher,” Morris said. “I’m really trying to not just get there, but stay there. I’m trying to be a superstar. This is something that I dreamed of. Why wouldn’t I take every step that I can to get there? I feel like being here is so exciting because it feels like my foot’s in the door. I’m right there. I can taste it. So, just being here made me hungry. Whenever they want to call me up, that’s their choice and I’ll be ready.”

Morris played for Nevada from 2021-23 and said playing for the Wolf Pack was “a special time for me” where he grew from a boy to a man and learned the value of being gritty, specifically mentioning having to shovel snow off the Peccole Park field at the start of the season being something that’s unique to playing at Nevada. During his return to Reno last week, Morris said there were a couple of must-visit restaurants he remembered from his college days, including Cielito Lindo and Süp.

“Getting back, eating their food and being back in town, it’s awesome,” Morris said.

His focus this offseason will be doing everything he can to put himself in a position to be called up by the Athletics during the 2026 campaign.

“My goal is to iron out some of the bumps and find out how to be a professional pitcher,” Morris said. “But again, not just getting there, but staying there.”

You can watch the full interview with Kade Morris below.