SENIOR SPOTLIGHT: Mike Morgalis, Baseball

As it turns out, Cambridge owes Nomar something—even if Boston doesn’t.

When senior Mike Morgalis and classmate Trey Hendricks ’04 pitched live batting practice to then-rehabbing and then-beloved Red Sox shortstop Nomar Garciaparra at Fenway Park last spring, Morgalis thought he was done with the sport of baseball.

Morgalis, a former Notre Dame red-shirt who transferred to Harvard in 2002, had one extra year of NCAA eligibility remaining at the end of last season, but was all set to graduate with his class and earn the necessary credits remaining the following fall.

By dodging baseball and the spring, he would dive quickly into the corporate world.

Enter, almost cinematically, a noticeably impressed Garciaparra.

“I don’t know if someone asked him to, but Nomar sat me down for about 15 minutes that last day I threw to him,” Morgalis said after deciding to return in 2005. “He told me that I wasn’t that bad, and that there was no reason I shouldn’t give it a chance. And worst-case scenario, I get to play baseball another year.”

For Crimson baseball, those 15 minutes ended up making all the difference in the world.

Morgalis completed a six-week internship at J.P. Morgan that summer and then opted to return to Harvard and O’Donnell Field.

In the spring—at least baseball-wise—the venture paid off. Morgalis turned in the best season of his collegiate career in 2005, going 5-0 with a 3.53 ERA prior to NCAA’s while serving as the veteran anchor of Harvard’s Ivy champion pitching staff. By locating an accurate fastball and twirling a darting slider, he formed one-third of an imposing tripod rotation rounded out by freshman Shawn Haviland and junior Frank Herrmann.

The Cincinnati native, arguably, did his best against the toughest of Ancient Eight opponents.

First, against eventual Red Rolfe runner-up Brown, Morgalis pitched deep into the eighth inning, surrendering only two earned runs to the league’s surprise powerhouse.

Then, facing Lou Gehrig Division winner Cornell, he shut out the Big Red over seven clutch, dominant frames.

“Mike’s a guy that really studies the hitters,” Harvard coach Joe Walsh said. “I think he has a great advantage when he pitches.”

Morgalis also managed to supply one of the few bright spots in the Crimson’s NCAA Tournament run.

Once pegged to start the deciding third game of the Ivy Championship Series on the basis of his experience, a Harvard sweep suddenly rendered his work unnecessary.

Morgalis was instead rewarded by being hand-picked by Walsh to step into the abyss that was Goodwin Field—home of defending national champion Cal State Fullerton.

In front of a record 3,604 people and a national ESPNU audience, the veteran opened with two scoreless innings, all in all pitching far better than the 19-0 box score would eventually indicate.

He would give up five earned against the best team in the nation, but used his characteristic pitching guile to fan five Titans in as many innings, holding Fullerton’s best hitter, Sergio Pedroza, hitless on the night.

“I thought Morgalis pitched really good,” Walsh said after the game. “I thought he was out there battling and kept his cool when we didn’t play real well.”

In the end, although his final outing didn’t turn out the way Crimson hopefuls dreamt it would, there’s still plenty for the veteran to hang his hat on. Given an Ivy championship and his leading role on the team, Morgalis surely got what he had hoped for from this season, if not more.

It’s just a shame that in 2006, his Harvard career will be over—and this time, there won’t be room for another encore.

­—Staff writer Pablo S. Torre can be reached at torre@fas.harvard.edu.