Scholar Stories: Swift Relishes Role in Michigan's Success
2/22/2017 12:00:00 AM | Softball
By Steve Kornacki
Every Wednesday during the 2016-17 academic year, MGoBlue.com will highlight a different student-athlete and their academic path. These are our Scholar Stories.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Morgan Swift has a single and a double to her credit.
The single -- a base hit in her only at-bat during two seasons with the University of Michigan softball team -- is a special memory for the junior bullpen catcher from Caledonia (Michigan) High.
The double has to do with her academics. Swift has a rare double-major in a pair of challenging endeavors, business and mechanical engineering, and has been a Michigan Athletics Academic Achievement Award winner as both a freshman and sophomore.
She also got to be part of two teams that reached the Women's College World Series in Oklahoma City and play for Carol Hutchins, the winningest major college softball coach.
"This has been a dream come true," said Swift. "I grew up a Michigan softball fan and have pictures of me with some players or Hutch when I was 12. I walk onto the field smiling because I can't believe I'm here.
"Then, to be at the actual World Series and be in our dugout and bullpen, with all of those people, was indescribable."
Swift's greatest contribution comes as a teammate who, despite being a pitcher in high school and never catching until making the team as a walk-on, gets pitchers ready to come into games in the bullpen.
"She'll do anything to help our team be great," said Hutchins. "If she isn't doing anything, she'll go over and hit balls to pitchers. She just wants to help us. She's such a great kid.
"We've had a lot of kids like that over the years, kids who've gotten involved in the program with a 'bottom-of-the-barrel' role, sitting in the bullpen the whole time. Our pitchers are thankful to them. We let them know how valuable of a role that is for us. Their role is different, but it's no less important. I think they understand that they help us be successful."
Swift, who works closely with pitching coach Jennifer Brundage, offered this job description for her bullpen catcher role:
"I catch workouts for the pitchers. And it's important during pregame warmups to give them feedback on what (pitches) are moving. I had to learn to tell them what they had to be better at."
She recalled talking to pitcher Haylie Wagner, who fired a 1-0 shutout against Florida to get the Wolverines into the game for the national championship two seasons ago, between innings.
"She always said that I understood things her other catchers didn't because I was a pitcher," said Swift. "I know what it feels like to be in a groove as a pitcher, and so it was a cool experience. We're able to talk things through and calm her down or whatever was needed."
Swift was an All-State Division 1 pitcher as a high school senior and a four-time first team all-conference selection. She considered playing for Calvin College near her home on the west side of the state.
"My biggest deciding factor in picking Michigan was that I didn't know what I wanted to do with my life after college," said Swift, the salutatorian of her high school class. "So, I wanted to pick a school that had good courses in every single option.
"Now, I'm dual-majoring in business and mechanical engineering. It's going to take me five years to graduate because you physically cannot do it faster with how many credits you need because there's not a lot of overlap (classes) in those two areas."
She said a love of math and science led her to mechanical engineering, while the business careers of her parents, Sally and Thomas, fostered her interest there.
"The plan was to take classes in both areas and see which one I liked best," said Swift, "but then I realized it was possible to do both and stick it out."
She's even dreamed up a way to combine the majors into one project.
"I do think I would like to do something with both," said Swift. "I always joke that I am going to own and design my own rollercoaster amusement park. That is an example of something I could do with both. I could design it and then run it.
"But I'm totally into experimenting and figuring out what I like."
She plans to get an internship this summer in business and another next summer in engineering to help complete the career experiment.
Swift credited "peer pressure from my teammates back home" with prompting her to try out for the Wolverines.
"I decided to do it just to say I had been on Alumni Field," said Swift. "I was trying out for the club team the same week, and then that Thursday Coach Hutch told me they wanted me to join the team.
"I was not a catcher; I was a pitcher. But they needed a bullpen catcher, saw potential in me, and I'm so thankful. I love the fact they saw potential in me, and it will always be such an honor to be on this team."
Swift adjusted her class schedule in order to make team practices. She flinched at first when batters swung just inches from her glove but made the adjustment to that and other techniques that had to be learned.
"The first curveball (All-America pitcher) Megan (Betsa) threw to me hit me directly in the right knee," she said, laughing at the memory. "I did not expect it to move that much. I've learned how to catch. The only pitching I've done is in batting practice.
"The coaches have taught me everything. 'Biggie' (Brundage) taught me how to frame a ball, how to block (low pitches), and would pause from working with the pitchers to tell me what to work on. I'm very grateful."
She was called upon to pinch-hit two years ago in a 20-5 win over Toledo in Tempe, Arizona.
"When they told me to go swing a bat, I panicked a little," Swift recalled. "I used to be a top hitter in high school but hadn't swung a bat all year. We did a little front toss (hitting into nets) and popped up everything.
"But when I got my chance, I think I hit a changeup. I don't know why they threw it to me because I was late on the fastballs and fouled off two down the rightfield line. But I hit it between shortstop and third and got on first. I couldn't have asked for anything better."
Her reward generally comes in being a great teammate, and I asked Swift what went into being just that.
"You definitely have to be a good listener," she said, "and it's about being selfless and fulfilling your role so that others can fulfill their roles. That's really important.
"I remember what my dad said in my freshman year: 'I just want to see you in that uniform.' That's what's been awesome -- just being part of the team. Hutch says it every year: 'Twenty-one women wear the Michigan softball uniform this year.' The fact that I'm part of that is amazing.
"I've been part of a World Series. You can't pay for experiences like that, and it's unreal."
