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First baseman Matt Morrison, a Scotts Valley alum, has shined for NCAA Division II Menlo College in his senior season. (Kin Lee – Menlo Athletics)<\/p>\nMatt Morrison admittedly struggled to adjust to the quality of pitching he faced at the NCAA Division II level after two years of junior college baseball.<\/p>\n
If the Scotts Valley High graduate\u2019s stats this season are any indication, however, Division II pitchers are now having to adjust to him.<\/p>\n
Now the starting first baseman for Menlo College, Morrison is hitting .365 with three home runs and a team-leading 21 RBI after completing the Oaks\u2019 four-game series at Chaminade in Hawaii on Monday.<\/p>\n
Morrison started the season white hot, collecting nine hits \u2013 two of them doubles \u2013 in 12 at-bats in Menlo\u2019s season-opening series against Cal State East Bay. The senior also drove in four runs and scored four more as the Oaks took two of three nonconference games from the Pioneers.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had a really fun weekend,\u201d Morrison said.<\/p>\n
First baseman Matt Morrison, a Scotts Valley alum, has shined for NCAA Division II Menlo College in his senior season. (Kin Lee – Menlo Athletics)<\/p>\n
Morrison\u2019s performance against Cal State East Bay earned him the PacWest\u2019s first Player of the Week honor of 2026. He learned he\u2019d won the award during his accounting class \u2013 a teammate showed him the announcement on the conference\u2019s Instagram page as he was trying to focus on his professor\u2019s lesson.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was attacking the ball aggressively and made things happen,\u201d Menlo coach Mike Givens said. \u201cHe has an excellent eye \u2013 he knows what pitches to back off of and what pitches to go after. He\u2019s very disciplined at the plate.\u201d<\/p>\n
Though he\u2019s cooled off a bit since, Morrison still ranks among the PacWest\u2019s most fearsome hitters, as he proved in a late February win over Concordia University of Irvine: The left-handed batter crushed a pair of three-run homers over the right-field fence in that contest, powering Menlo to a 10-4 triumph over the Golden Eagles.<\/p>\n
Contrast that with Morrison\u2019s first season at Menlo after transferring from Cabrillo College: He hit a paltry .097 in his first nine games as a junior in 2025, managing just four hits in 31 at-bats in that span. As a result, Morrison dropped from the No. 3 spot in the Oaks\u2019 batting order down to No. 7.<\/p>\n
Having hit a respectable .283 with 37 RBI in 46 games with two home runs in his final season at Cabrillo, Morrison was understandably frustrated.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn junior college, a lot of pitchers are pretty fastball-heavy,\u201d Morrison said. \u201cIt\u2019s a lower level of pitching.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn Division II, and especially in the PacWest, pitchers are more well-rounded \u2013 they\u2019ve got fastballs, curves, sliders, and change-ups, and they throw them all for strikes. They\u2019re not two-pitch guys \u2013 they\u2019re three-pitch and four-pitch guys.\u201d<\/p>\n
Morrison had no choice but to adjust. So that\u2019s exactly what he did.<\/p>\n
By the end of his junior year, he was hitting .255 thanks in large part to a 12-game hitting streak in the latter half of the season. Morrison hit a whopping .385 (15-for-39) during the streak.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a mindset thing,\u201d Morrison said. \u201cI didn\u2019t have an idea of what the jump was from junior college to Division II. I kind of started looking to get thrown what I wanted to hit instead of looking for more off-speed pitches.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Menlo](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/STC-L-COUNTY-0319-02-e1773847119788.jpg\")
Menlo College first baseman Matt Morrison, a Scotts Valley alum, is hitting .365 with three home runs and a team-leading 21 RBI. (Kin Lee – Menlo Athletics)<\/p>\n
The batter\u2019s box isn\u2019t the only place on the baseball diamond where Morrison has had to make adjustments at the college level: A catcher in high school, he transitioned to first base while at Cabrillo. He\u2019s gone from being clad in baseball\u2019s version of body armor and receiving pitches thrown at him constantly to standing armor-free at a spot where a batter could smash a hard liner or ground ball in his direction at any moment.<\/p>\n
\u201cI try to be a wall over there and not let stuff get past me,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Givens said the 6-foot-2, 205-pound Morrison excels at that, as indicated by the fact that as of this writing, he\u2019d made just two errors in 171 fielding chances. The Menlo coach believes the toughness Morrison developed as a catcher is a big reason why.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe may not have the quickest speed or a quick reaction time, but he regularly makes routine plays and the tough plays that matter,\u201d Givens said. \u201cHe\u2019s good at scooping up tough hops, short hops.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s a bulldog \u2013 he\u2019s not going to get run over (by baserunners). He\u2019s going to hold his ground. He can stop a guy right in his tracks.\u201d<\/p>\n
Morrison is one of four players from Santa Cruz County on Menlo\u2019s roster. Freshman Javier Da Rosa Fonseca Jr., a St. Francis High graduate, has made an immediate impact for the Oaks just one year out of high school: Not only is he the Oaks\u2019 starting shortstop, he batted .294 with a home run and eight RBI in his first 12 games.<\/p>\n
Right-handers Dominic Hernandez (Watsonville) and Trey Silva (St. Francis), meanwhile, are both part of the Oaks\u2019 pitching staff. Hernandez, a junior, is 1-5 in six starts, posting 11 strikeouts and a 6.67 earned-run average in a team-high 28.1 innings. The starter is fairly durable by today\u2019s standards, pitching six innings or more on two occasions.<\/p>\n
Silva, a sophomore reliever, boasts a 1.35 ERA in five appearances.. He had allowed just one earned run and walked four batters.<\/p>\n
A sports marketing major, Morrison sees himself either becoming a sports agent or working in a major league team\u2019s front office someday. However, he doesn\u2019t plan to begin pursuing either of those options immediately after graduation \u2013 he feels he\u2019s got some post-college playing in his future.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are definitely some people who have been drafted (by major league teams) from Division II,\u201d he said. \u201cThe goal is to make it to Major League Baseball, of course, but if I have to go to the Pioneer League (a developmental league for MLB prospects) or overseas and work my way up, I definitely have the ability to do so.\u201d<\/p>\n
Givens agrees.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe has the potential,\u201d the Oaks coach said. \u201cIf he keeps hitting the ball like he does, someone\u2019s going to recognize him.\u201d<\/p>\n
For now, though, Givens is looking forward to reaping the benefits of Morrison\u2019s efforts to impress major league scouts.<\/p>\n
\u201cMatt\u2019s the kind of person who sets goals for himself and achieves those goals,\u201d he said. \u201cI believe he has the opportunity to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n
COUNTY CONNECTIONS<\/p>\n
County Connections runs every other Thursday during the academic school year. If you have an update on a local college athlete, email Ray Hacke at raydhackelaw@gmail.com.<\/p>\n
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