Morrison Named AMC Freshman of the Year and Dual Position Player of the Year

Williams Baptist University freshman Skylar Morrison has been named the American Midwest Conference Freshman of the Year and co-Dual Position Player of the Year the league office announced Monday night at its annual awards banquet.

In addition, Desmond Cordova was named a First-Team All-Conference outfielder and was named to the Gold Glove team as a center fielder. Parker Jeffries, Nicholas Jones and Luis Febres all earned second-team honors, while Dylan Creech earned a Gold Glove as a left fielder. 

Morrison, a native of Campbell, Mo., excelled as both a pitcher and a hitter for the Eagles during the season. He had a .305 batting average with 25 RBIs and five home runs on the year, while also adding seven doubles and one triple. He finished with a .378 on-base percentage and a .372 slugging percentage. 

He made 11 appearances on the mound, including seven starts. He had 3 wins and strikeouts 29 in 35.1 innings of work. 

Cordova served as the Eagles' leadoff hitter for much of the season and had a .484 on-base percentage in that role. He stole 23 bases, had a .359 batting average, scored 53 runs and drove in 20. The sophomore from North Little Rock added three home runs and nine doubles, while also adding 17 walks and 21 hit-by-pitches. Defensively he had a .990 fielding percentage with just one error and had three assists from the outfield.

Jeffries made six starts and had 14 total appearances on the mound and finished with a 6-1 record. He threw two complete games and one shutout. The sophomore from Nellyville, Mo., had a 3.34 earned run average with 47 strikeouts and just 11 walks. He limited opposing batters to a .278 batting average and induced four double plays.

Jones, a freshman catcher from Southaven, Miss., hit .311 on the year with 38 RBIs and four home runs in 49 games. He scored 19 runs, had a .438 on-base percentage and had 27 walks and was hit-by-a-pitch 11 times. Behind the plate, he threw out five would-be base stealers and made just one error. 

Febres, a junior from Venezuela, had 34 RBIs with 12 runs scored for the Eagles. He collected 47 hits, eight of which were doubles and added 12 walks. 

Creech, a sophomore from Bay, Ark., had a .982 fielding percentage in the outfield and added 10 assists from his left-field position to earn his Gold Glove honor. He took part in six double plays and made just three errors on the year. 

In addition, the AMC announced its Champions of Character team and WBU was represented on the squad by senior Aaron Maragni.