Morris has Pioneer League talking

OREM, Utah -- Dallas Morris knows that his ability with a glove is a big reason the Angels chose him in the 24th round of the draft. Yet it's his bat that has people in the Pioneer League talking about the University of Louisiana-Lafayette product as Orem winds down the final month of the season.

Morris had six homers and 33 RBIs and was hitting .321 as the Owlz starting third baseman. He's made a seemingly easy adjustment to using wooden bats and has impressed the coaching staff with his work habits and determination.

"For a young hitter in his first year, he has a good approach," hitting coach Keith Johnson said. "He's got a good idea of what he wants to accomplish. He's got a plan that he followed coming in here and he's executed it. He's a solid contact hitter who gets quality at-bats.

"We will help them if we feel they are overmatched. But first we want to let them do their own thing. And Dallas has definitely been a pleasant surprise to us with how consistent he's been."

Morris, who says he has benefited greatly by having fellow Louisianan Greg Dini (12th round, Tulane) as a teammate, likened the competition he's faced to the better competition in Division I. Therefore, he points out he has just continued to do what he was taught to do in school, with those lessons continuing to pay dividends.

Though he admits playing every day takes some getting used to -- he fouled a ball off his foot some days ago and didn't take as much time getting back as he would have in college -- it hasn't posed a problem. In fact, he seems to be thriving with the work.

"The pitching here is tougher to hit than in college," said Morris, who is fiercely proud of his Cajun heritage. "You see a lot more fastballs than in college. So the velocity is there. It's just tough to face guys when you know they have Major League velocity, but they don't have the control. Guys are effectively wild here. One pitch can be at your head and the next one can be on the outside corner.

"I would like to have better pitch selection, too. My walk-to-strikeout ratio (1-6) isn't what it has been in years past. Hopefully, I'll cut down on that in the second half, when I get to know the league."

The ability to play, however, seems to be genetic with Morris. His grandfather, Harold "Hoppy" Morris, was drafted as a youngster but opted to stay home in Louisiana to play fast-pitch softball.

"The game of his era down there was fast-pitch softball. He was a 6-foot-5 shortstop and I'm told he was the best ever in Louisiana. He played on two all-world teams and is in the Hall of Fame. He was the biggest influence that I had in baseball."

While Morris said nothing has really caught him by surprise since his arrival in Utah, he is a bit concerned about his defense. His 11 errors are tops on the Owlz, a fact he finds irritating simply because he never had defensive shortcomings in the past.

"Defense got me here," he said. "It got me a spot on my college roster. I always had to figure out how to hit. Now I'm hitting, for sure. My defense has been all right, but it needs work. To tell you the truth, I don't know what's happening.

"I haven't taken anything for granted. I've had a couple of tough plays that have gone the other way. I've had a lot of problems with depth perception on the fields here. In college, we used to play one game at night a week and I think my depth perception was off. But I'm starting to get used to it."

If he were to give himself a grade, Morris said it would be a B-plus because there is always room for improvement. The grade he gives himself, however, isn't borne out of ego. He's been that effective and only figures to get better.