Sports

Bronx native thriving for Charleston in NCAA Tournament

Morgan Phillips has a gift, but it doesn’t have anything to do with his splendid ability on a baseball diamond.

Sure, there is plenty of that — The Bronx product has emerged as a key piece to College of Charleston’s Cinderella run to the Super Regionals of the NCAA Baseball Tournament — yet Phillips is able to look at the complete picture rather than seek immediate gratification, a rare character trait in a teenager.

Two specific examples stand out.

He attended Frederick Douglass Academy, an academic-first public school in Harlem, rather than one of the area’s traditional baseball powerhouses. While tempted and recruited to leave to improve his exposure, he stayed put to challenge himself, overcoming obstacles both in the classroom and on the field.

Even after the Reds took Phillips in the 17th round of the 2011 MLB First-Year Player Draft, he made the difficult — but mature — decision to attend college rather than take the money.

“Both of those decisions were vital in me developing as a man, not just a baseball player, but a person as well,” he said, crediting his parents, Frank and Tracey, with aiding him in both of those situations. “In my mind I didn’t think it would be the last time I would be proposed that opportunity. In my mind, I was putting it on hold.”

His father, Frank, said: “It’s kind of typical with his maturity.”

It has gotten him to this point, more than halfway to a business degree at Charleston and two wins away from college baseball’s biggest stage, the College World Series in Omaha, Neb.

The 6-foot-1, 210-pound Phillips, the Cougars’ everyday center fielder, was named to the Gainesville All-Region team as No. 4-seeded Charleston stunned top seed Florida, the overall second seed in the entire tournament, in the opener. The Cougars also had two wins over second-seed Long Beach State and advanced to the Super Regionals in Lubbock, Texas, where they will meet Texas Tech starting Saturday.

“That will go down as one of the best memories of my life,” Phillips said. “Winning the regional, honestly, was surreal.”

Phillips was an impressive, though extremely raw, prospect at FDA. He batted .273 his junior year, but Charleston coach Monte Lee and his staff saw five-tool potential in Phillips, as did the Reds. Charleston converted him to center field from shortstop, taking advantage of his athletic prowess, and during a red-shirt freshman season, went to work on his hitting mechanics.

It remains a work in progress. Yet, despite his propensity to chase pitches out of the strike zone, Lee sees plenty of potential. Of Phillips’ 44 hits, 18 went for extra bases, an indication of the pop in his bat.

“He’s a guy who’s still developing, still getting better,” Lee said. “One more year in college, and you can see him getting drafted and going onto professional baseball.”

Charleston’s identity is lights-out pitching and lock-down defense, in which Phillips figures prominently. He has been a blessing in the outfield, a gazelle who cuts off extra-base hits in the gaps.

“He’s going to get the baseball as good as anybody,” Lee said. “He’s really flourished out in the outfield.”

Phillips played basketball growing up, but baseball was his true passion, starting when his father signed him up for tee ball at the age of 6 at Harlem Little League. It put a big smile on his face.

He’s been smiling a lot lately, enjoying this ride, but don’t call Charleston an underdog team or Phillips an underdog story. He doesn’t subscribe to that narrative.

“I feel like you’re given something for a reason,” Phillips said, “and you have to make the most out of it.”