Choctaw County’s Morrow to coach Louisville

Louisville baseball is under new management by a Choctaw County boy.

The Wildcats have been under the direction of Kylie Ming, but a first-year head coach joined the fold. Nicholas Morrow was announced as the new coach recently as the Ackerman native accepts his first position as the lead man.

Morrow played baseball at Ackerman High School and helped the Indians to a state championship as a pitcher in 2009. He started his coaching career as a student assistant for Choctaw County and coach Andy Young before joining the staff at Eupora under former coach Clayton Dodd.

Last year, Morrow earned his second state championship ring as an assistant for Lee Boyd at New Hope and he spent this season as the pitching coach for Terry High School. He took something from all of his head coaches over the years that has prepared him for this moment.

“Coach Boyd was a great mentor for me,” Morrow said. “I learned a lot from him and there’s so much more I could have learned from him. One of the biggest things that I took from all of the coaches is relationships. Every relationship is going to be different, but I want the kids to know that I love them and that we’re going to compete and be the best that we can be. That’s one of the most important things that I’ve taken from every one of the coaches is that relationships and being there for the players is the biggest thing.”

Louisville High School is in the middle of trying to find a winning culture. The Wildcats won three games in 2017 and six in 2018 and 2019. They had only played four games this year but were 1-3 to start things off.

Morrow has already started scouting what he has returning and is excited about the team in 2021.

“I know that we’ve got Jace Hudspeth coming back and there are a couple of kids that can really play,” Morrow said. “We’re going to have speed. It’s the Louisville Wildcats

so we’re going to have speed. They’ve been coached well, but unfortunately, they haven’t won much. We’ve got to buy in and change something and score runs.”

He’s had a chance to sit back and think about where he is at this point in his coaching career and Morrow is thankful. However, the young, energetic coach is also ready to go to work.

From working on the fields to reaching out to some of the players and getting his staff together, Morrow has already hit the ground running. All that’s left is to get his group together and start to go to work.

“It’s been surreal and emotional,” Morrow said. “It’s been a dream of mine growing up and playing ball. Being at Louisville and knowing the culture there I’m ecstatic. I’m ready for COVID-19 to be over so I can meet my guys and build those relationships. The past couple of weeks have flown by, but I’ve been at the field working on it there. It’s just a really exciting time.”