Morales, Nees named Athletes of the Week

Spring is a busy time for Graham sports with multiple seasons overlapping as they close in on the end of the school year.

Baseball and softball are in the thick of their district schedules while other sports are either in the postseason or wrapping up their seasons with final competitions. This past week, Olga Morales of the Lady Blues softball team and Jagger Nees of the Steers golf team earned selections as Athletes of the Week for their respective performances.

Olga Morales, shortstop, Lady Blues softball

A great batting average in softball or baseball is about .300. That means a player will get a hit on average three times out of 10 at bats.

Anything above that is remarkable. Batting .400 is almost unheard of and batting .500 is out of this world. For Morales, she’s currently on another planet in the batter’s box.

The senior shortstop currently holds a .551 batting average on the season. She’s more likely to get a hit and get on base than she is to record an out, which is an anomaly in this sport. For her hitting prowess, Morales was recently moved to the leadoff spot in the lineup for the Lady Blues.

All of her hitting statistics are near the top of Graham’s team and she regularly sets her teammates up to drive her in with her ability to get on base. She’s a catalyst for the Lady Blues and their high-powered offense.

In addition to her work at the plate, she also plays and excels at one of the toughest defensive positions in the field. At shortstop, she’s only committed two errors on the season and is a leader for the defense in each and every game.

For Morales, she’s in her third year on the varsity squad and has improved every season she’s played. As district play continues and the regular season enters its final month, Morales will figure to be a huge part of the success of this team moving forward.

“Olga is a competitor… she comes out and competes day in and day out,” head coach Adam Arrington said. “… She has a cannon for an arm and is doing well at the plate also. She is our top hitter right now, batting .551 and is a big threat on the bases with her aggressive base running style.”

Jagger Nees, Steers golf

Golf is often argued to be one of the hardest sports at which to excel. It requires patience, steadiness and such technical skill that being off on a shot by millimeters can make a difference in where the ball ends up.

Though he’s only a freshman, Nees has seemingly gone above and beyond what any other freshman might accomplish on a golf course. He regularly has finished with some of the lowest scores on Graham’s golf team and has been near the top of multiple tournaments this season.

At their district tournament this past Monday and Tuesday in Abilene, Nees went up against upperclassmen with a wealth of more tournament experience than he, and he still finished third place overall in a field of 33 players.

Of the top 10 finishers in the tournament, Nees was the only freshman, with one sophomore and the rest being juniors and seniors. He finished with an almost identical score on each day of the tournament, shooting a 77 on day one and a 76 on day two.

For his accomplishments, Nees has advanced to the regional tournament in Lubbock in mid-April. He’ll continue to put his skills to the test against another wide field of talented golfers, and he’ll look to put himself up there with the best of them again.

“Jagger has been a great player for us, both in the fall and this spring. He has tremendous talent and a bright future in the game of golf,” head coach Michael Todd said. “He is also a great basketball player and so it made sense that he spent most of his time during basketball season playing basketball. There was a little rust as he transitioned into our spring season, but he played a ton of holes over spring break and quickly rounded into form.  

“The regional tournament will be a great experience for him.  Hopefully this is the first of many trips out to Lubbock for Jagger.”