FARMVILLE, Va. – Libby Morris was about five years old when she began playing T-ball as the only girl in the Buckingham Youth League. She was around seven or eight when she started playing organized softball and at age 12 she joined a travel team, the Richmond Rampage.
As a standout pitcher at Buckingham High School, Morris eventually had a goal of playing Division I even though few from her school have made it to that level in several sports.
The hard-throwing right-hander reached her goal, but she never dreamed it would be 30 minutes from her Dillwyn home in Farmville. "I never really thought I would come to Longwood because it was so close to home," says Morris, a refrain repeated by many high school seniors.
But that is exactly what happened. She attracted attention in high school from the coaching staff at Division I Wingate and Division III Christopher Newport, among others. But then veteran Lancers' head coach
Kathy Riley heard about Morris in her own backyard.
"She does not get rattled in games and she likes to compete," Riley says of Morris, a 5-foot-10 righty. "Those are things that attracted us to her. We saw her as a junior and recruited her that summer."
Last year as a sophomore, Morris was 21-10 with an ERA of 3.26 as the Lancers finished 41-20 overall. She gained confidence as the regular-season wore on and then came alive as the Lancers made their first-ever appearance in the Big South Tournament.
Longwood, the No. 3 seed, came together in all phases of the game to win the tournament and gain an automatic bid to the NCAA Regionals. Morris was the winning pitcher and MVP, as Longwood beat Winthrop 10-2 in the title game, allowing just three hits and two runs.
"Once we got to the (Big South) Tournament something just really clicked," says Morris, who forms a strong battery with catcher
Megan Baltzell. "We all started playing together. That is really what helped me. Megan and I have always had a bond; once we got to the tournament something turned on. My confidence level was different and that was a big help."
"At the beginning (of last year), I don't think she really knew how good she could be," outfielder
Chelsea Sciacca says of Morris. "I think she realized that in the middle of last season. Once we were in the tournament she really knew. We all knew her true potential."
Morris was aided by Baltzell, who is now in her third year as her catcher.
"She was learning her freshman year. Her sophomore year she grew a little bit; she understood her plate coverage and where she needed to pitch and not just throw hard. She threw more drops to make them chase it. That made a difference," notes Baltzell. "College softball is all about making the hitters make mistakes."
Now a junior, Morris feels an added responsibility as a team leader. She allowed just one run in six innings in her first appearance of 2014, a 9-1 win over Towson, and is currently 9-4 on the season with a 2.92 ERA.
"It is easy being a leader when you are a pitcher because you are in the center of the field. But it is harder being a leader by talking and knowing what to say. It is natural to be a talker, but knowing the right things to do and say all of the time is tough," she notes.
Riley says Morris has adapted her pitch selection during her college career.
"She has a good drop ball," Riley says. "She has a drop curve and she used it last year. This year she has gone more to a drop instead of a drop curve, which we like better" since a drop curve moves through the strike zone.
Morris began playing softball with assistance for her father, Larry, a long-time coach for several sports at Buckingham High. The elder Morris said he was the varsity softball coach during Libby's senior season at Buckingham. Her mother, Roma, works in Farmville as the director of social services for the Prince Edward County.
As a youth player, she also took lessons from Rita Lynn Gilman, a long-time pitching instructor in the Richmond area who played basketball at the University of Richmond. Morris' father said his daughter was about 10 when she started taking lessons under Gilman.
Morris joins former Longwood teammate Marci Christian, now a catcher at Charleston Southern, as Division I products of Buckingham High. Another one is Maurice Taylor, a sophomore last season on the Virginia Tech football team.
After she committed to Longwood, Morris joined a travel softball team based out of New Jersey in order to face tougher competition before she began her college career.
"I could not have not have picked a better school," Morris says. "If I want to, I can go home and do some laundry. My mom works here in town. The support is great here, too, which I don't think I would get a bigger school."
Editor's Note: Special consultant David Driver is a Virginia native and has covered college sports in the state for more than 20 years. He has been a staff writer for newspapers in Arlington, Springfield and Harrisonburg and has contributed to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, The Washington Post, Stafford County Sun and The Potomac News in Woodbridge. He was also the first sports editor for the daily Baltimore Examiner. He will continue contributing special feature content to longwoodlancers.com throughout the 2013-14 academic year as well. A former Division III baseball player at Eastern Mennonite University, David can be reached at www.davidsdriver.com.
Previous 2013-14 Special Features
From South Africa to Longwood
Longwood Head Coach Jayson Gee Introduces PACE
Soccer is a family affair for Kelsey Pardue
Milestone win gives young team confidence
Sophomore guards have a comfort level
Atkinson has men's soccer on the rise
Work Ethic Pays Off For Jeylani Dublin, Lancers
Montgomery Makes His Pitch For Call Up In 2014
