Cody Morse knew that the moment was coming.

He had been told that he would likely be drafted somewhere around the 12^th round of the MLB draft and that there were teams interested in him. He was patient and expected it to come, but when the moment happened, he couldn’t help but feel emotional.

“I was confident but when it happened it was just a crazy feeling,” Morse said. “It’s everything I worked for my whole life since I was a kid. The dream is to play in the MLB and getting drafted has always been that moment you imagine. It’s the stepping stone to playing in the majors and when that moment happened it was like by whole world lit up. It’s a great feeling.”

A Katy native and 2021 Paetow graduate, Morse took a journey over the past three years to get him to this spot. He went to the University of Houston in his freshman season and after redshirting, he transferred to Weatherford Junior College and worked his way into a spot to be drafted over two years with the program. That draft moment came for him this July, when Morse was picked in the 12^th round of the MLB Draft by the Los Angeles Dodgers with the 370^th overall pick.

“Weatherford just put me in a position to succeed from the moment I came in,” Morse said. “They helped me, not get on a program, but they gave me everything I needed to develop and grow my game and myself. I had to get serious and they helped me with that. Everyone there is fighting for a spot and playing time and so you have to put that extra effort in and my time there just really helped me as a player I think.”

Morse had a break-out year for Weatherford this last season as a sophomore, working both out of the bullpen and as a starter. Morse pitched 49.2 innings, striking out 53 to go with a 3.08 ERA while accumulating a 5-1 record in 15 appearances, including eight starts. He also earned a save and only walked 28 players all season. In his freshman year, Morse worked out of the bullpen and made 13 appearances, with two wins, two saves and 22 strikeouts in 15.2 innings pitched, helping Weatherford make the Junior College World Series and finish third.

“I just knew I was at a point this year to where I needed to start because I was pitching, well,” Morse said. “I pitched a few games in relief and then I had a talk with my head coach and pitching coach and was like ‘hey, I really think we would be better if you used me as a starter.’ They gave me the opportunity and everything just fell into place. I pitched well and they told me that I would have a place every week if I kept it up and I just kept doing the same thing and things kept stacking. It was a big thing for me to get all of those extra innings.”

A 6 foot-6 inch lefty, Morse has the frame for the next level and sat in the low 90’s with his fast ball this past string while getting lots of motion on his off-speed pitches. He was committed to play at the University of Oklahoma next year for Skip Johnson, one of the better coaches for pitchers in the nation in college, but at 21-years old he knew that he couldn’t pass up a sure-fire chance to be drafted. And going to an organization like the Dodgers, which is known for developing their young talent, made the moment even sweeter.

“When I learned it was the Dodgers it just made me relieved cause I knew I made the right choice,” Morse said. “They have one of the best development teams out of anyone and I think playing in this organization will just give me that extra little bit of a chance to become an MLB player.”

Family is the reason that Morse has gotten to this point. He credits his parents for the time, money and effort they put in to get him an opportunity to earn a scholarship and he hopes to reward them one day. But for his parents, just seeing Morse get drafted was such a reward in itself.

“I knew it was coming, but when it happened, I just stared at the screen in disbelief. My son was just drafted. Things will forever change now. It was an awe-inspiring moment,” Morse’s mother Tawnya Morse said. “Everything he has ever worked for was validated at that moment. My son called his father to share in real time as he had to work and he had a hard time keeping his composure, his voice cracked several times as they were speaking.”

While it was a huge goal and dream accomplished for Morse, the work isn’t done. His ultimate goal is to find a way to make it to the majors, and for that to happen he knows he will have to continue to outwork everyone.

“I just want to go out there and prove to people that I’m here for a reason. I have the ability, I just need to put it all together,” Morse said. “I’m going to prove to the Dodgers that I can do this. I visualize it all the time. I know in my mind and in my head that it’s going to happen, it’s just a matter of me putting in the work, being patient and making it happen for myself. It’s all just crazy and I couldn’t be happier.”