Riley Morris signs with Coker College
Last Updated on 5/22/2013
Published on 12/7/2012
By Chris Sokoloski
csokoloski@gtowntimes.com
Waccamaw High School's Riley Morris signed to play softball at Coker College on Thursday morning.
"It's just a big accomplishment and it's just a lot of hard work and I'm really proud of it," Morris said.
She is the fifth member of Waccamaw's 2010 state championship team to get a college scholarship, joining Ashley Czechner, Ashley Brown, Nikki Legg and Tricia Hood.
"I think she's going to a place that's just about right for her," said Waccamaw softball coach Scott Streiffert. "And realistically she should have an opportunity to play. At Coker she can be successful."
Morris, who has been playing varsity softball since the eighth grade, was a freshman on the championship team that finished the season 34-1. She was a starter for most of the season, and made the final out in left field in the championship game.
"She had a great season that year," Streiffert said.
"It was luck and we just bonded really well," Morris said. "We were very fortunate to win that year."
After her sophomore year at Waccamaw, Morris joined the Flames, a travel softball team. She said that decision was the key to getting a college scholarship.
"Most colleges don't come and watch your high school games they come and watch your travel ball games, so I got the exposure that I needed," Morris said.
She believes the biggest transition from high school to college will be the competition.
"In high school it's kind of laid back," Morris said. "You have to step it up a couple of notches in college."
"It's a lot more of a business," Streiffert said. "You're going to a place where the coach is getting paid to win. ... The pressure to win and the pressure to perform is high in college and you're always looking over your shoulder because the coach is trying to recruit somebody to eventually take your place."
Morris want to study biology at Coker and become a physical therapist.
Despite all of Waccamaw's success, only one softball player - Miranda Klees - has graduated from Waccamaw, spent four years playing softball at the same college, and then graduated from that school.
Streiffert thinks Morris could follow in Klees' footsteps.
