By Justin Feil, The Packet Group
It’s hard to imagine Rigo Morfin taking on any more pressure than he does for the New Egypt High School baseball team.
All that the Warriors senior has been entrusted to do is:
1. Move from first base to catcher to fill the shoes of the graduated Mike Fassl, who head coach Rich Carroll called “the best catcher I’ve had in 20 years.”
2. Bat clean-up in a lineup that draws everyone’s ace pitcher.
3. Handle a pitching staff that returns everyone.
4. And not to be forgotten, come in as closer when necessary.
”I like it,” Morfin said. “I like closing. I feel like I throw better under pressure.
”I’m trying to be a leader for the team and help everyone out,” he said. “I want to keep working hard and help everyone out.”
So far, so good for Morfin, who has helped New Egypt to a 5-0 start, its best in program history. Morfin has made a seamless transition to catcher, even though it’s been a while since he last caught a game.
”I caught one game freshman year, I think,” Morfin said. “I caught one game during high school, but I don’t remember why. Other than that, eighth grade in rec.
”I like catching a lot. It might be one of my favorite positions. I like playing everything. I hopped into it real quick.”
No surprise. Morfin hops headfirst into everything, whether it’s football in the fall or wrestling in the winter, his effort is never in question. Now he’s turned his attention to baseball, his first love, and is pouring his energy into doing all that he can to help make this a memorable year.
Morfin has taken command of a pitching staff that has been dominant thus far. It’s been the backbone of the Warriors’ impressive opening.
”We’ve had good groups in the past,” Carroll said. “What sets this group apart is the pitching we’re getting. Our team ERA is under 1.00. Last year, the pitchers got in the groove of throwing strikes. The pitching has been spectacular the first five games.
”We returned the whole pitching staff. We were 18-9 last year. I think they’ve stepped it up a notch. That year of experience, going deep in the playoffs, pitching in pressure situations has helped them for this season.”
And Morfin’s been helping his pitchers out at the plate. He delivered a hit in the Warriors’ 5-4 win over Allentown, while catching all 10 innings Saturday.
”He’s hitting close to .600,” Carroll said. “Rigo made the switch from first base to catcher senior year. And he’s the closer. He’s got a lot of weight on his shoulders.”
Morfin never felt more weight than when he was called on to finish the game against Burlington City. With New Egypt clinging to a 4-3 lead in the last inning, and bases loaded with no outs, Morfin struck out the side.
”I remember my freshman or sophomore year one like that where I came in, but it wasn’t as big,” Morfin said. “It wasn’t a league game or anything that I can remember. This was my biggest one going forward.”
Added Carroll: “If you find ways to win like that, that’ll help you.”
Morfin is just one big piece of the puzzle for the Warriors, who have opened the season amidst plenty of pressure for everyone on the team. They haven’t had an easy game yet, but they’ve been up for every challenger.
”I thought we were going to start off good,” Morfin said. “We started off great. I thought we’d start off well. I’m not surprised. We put in a lot of work.”
It’s the way that New Egypt has been winning that is as impressive as anything. The Warriors have not been flawless. They have made plenty of errors that could have sabotaged terrific pitching, but they have found a way each and every game to overcome any mistakes.
”In four of the five games, we’ve trailed late, fourth inning or later,” Carroll said. “They fortitude and resilience they have, they don’t ever think they’re out of a game.
”With the season we had last year, we have a target on our back. And it gets bigger and bigger every game. We’re going to see a lot of aces. With seeing aces every night, I think going in we know we have to take advantage of every opportunity we get. A prime example is the Allentown game. We have six hits in 10 innings and win on a wild pitch.”
Taylor Steen had three hits and a pair of runs in the win over Allentown. Reid Anderson, Mike DeAnni and Kevin Mason also scored runs while DeAnni and John Fassl drove in runs. DeAnni pitched the first four innings while Connor Siegleski came on for the final six innings of the win. There is a culture of winning that is building for the Warriors.
”We work really hard in practice,” Morfin said. “In practice, we play everything live. For every error we make, it’s a sprint. That pushes us even more to do better. We’ve been improving a lot as we’ve been practicing. No one gives up. When we’re down, everyone stays up.”
There’s plenty of reason for the good vibes. The Warriors have been challenged early, but keep finding different ways to win to show that, like Rigo Morfin, they are just fine under pressure.

