The CT Softball Blog

LEDYARD—It is fair to say that Marissa Morris’ softball travels have taken her from one end of state to the other. And back again.

Raised in Torrington, where she became a three-time captain and all-state player for the Raiders, Morris crossed the state to play in Storrs, at the University of Connecticut, for a spell.

Soon after her college career ended, earlier than she had hoped, she headed west again, toward home, to Terryville, where she started coaching with the CT Titans travel program she had once played for.

Soon after that she got her first high school job and spent three years at Rockville, leading The Rock to an NCCC title in her first year with the team.

Even more recently, Morris has crisscrossed the state once again, headed toward the shoreline this time around. Morris has been named the new varsity softball coach at Ledyard High School.

“Marissa comes highly regarded,” Ledyard athletic director James Buonocore said. “She has great communication skills with her student-athletes and families. She relates very well with her players and will be a positive mentor on and off the softball field.  She is an extremely intelligent individual who comes highly recommended.”

It was a change in her professional status that sparked the switch to Rockville to Ledyard.

“I am now the special ed advocate for the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation, so it’s just a situation where I wanted to coach in a place that was closer to where I was working,” Morris said. “If the Ledyard job hadn’t opened up, I’d still be in Rockville. I love that program. We just partner close with the Ledyard School System, so I’m really excited to be joining this program now.”

Last season was a trying season for the Colonels, who went 11-11 despite a midseason coaching change.

Morris’ arrival will re-establish some continuity to the program moving forward.

“I am very excited to work with Coach Morris moving forward,” Buonocore said. “I am even more excited for our current softball players as well as our future Colonels.  Marissa has a clear understanding of our expectations in Ledyard, and I am confident she can exceed those expectations in meeting the academic, social, emotional and athletic needs of our students.”

Morris recently had a preseason meeting with her players and was pleased to see early interest from more than 30 student-athletes.

“Historically, they’ve always had two teams, a varsity and JV team,” Morris said. “I know that we have a really young team, mostly sophomores and juniors, but just a handful of seniors.”

Morris is also excited to get a chance to be a role model for a new group of players, knowing what the sport has given her over her career.

“My role as a female coach is kind of meeting them where they’re at,” she said. “I was once a teenage girl. I kind of know where they’re kind of coming from and the boyfriends and school and all that stuff. So, I know where they’re coming from. But I also get to push them because I But I think as a female, my job is to give back. Softball gave me a lot of opportunities at the travel and the high school level. So, the reason why I want to be their mentor is so that I can help them reach their fullest potential.”

Giving back is something Morris never imagined doing when softball first came into her life.

“Actually, fun fact, I hated softball,” she said with a laugh.

When she was in middle school, however, she found herself in Wolcott at a travel game and was impressed with how different the game was from the recreation league games she had been playing.

“I just loved it,” she said. “I loved how fast it was. I loved how competitive it was then, so I ended up trying out for the Titans. I was 12. That’s where I started my travel journey. And I never went back.”

Softball gave her a chance to continue her education at UConn, even though she wound up leaving the program for personal reasons.

“I actually didn’t have a traditional college experience,” she explained. “I ended up leaving the team. I had some personal stuff going on. I don’t regret going to UConn at all. And I wish sometimes it played out a little differently than it did because I would’ve loved to have played four years.”

Things happen for a reason, though, and while Morris left the softball program at UConn, she never left the sport of softball behind.

And she loves using the sport to teach the life lessons she has learned to over her journey.

“It’s beyond just a sport. And that’s what we teach them here, and on our teams,” she said. “It’s not just within the lines, it’s also the life skills that you get afterwards.”

Morris’ career took her from one end of the state to another.

Come Spring, she’ll keep giving back, only this time with the Ledyard Colonels.

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