Lincoln High grad Zach Morgan drafted by SF Giants
Zach Morgan was sitting at home with family in Turlock on July 18 when he received a text that would change his life. Minutes later the San Francisco Giants selected him in the seventh round of the 2022 MLB draft.
“The Giants pick (number 226 overall) came up on the screen and I heard my name called and it was just a whirlwind of emotions," Morgan said. "I just started hugging all my family members and tears started to roll down.”
The 22-year-old Stockton native, who went on to be a catcher at Fresno State, grew up watching the Giants.
“It's surreal and I'm super thankful and super blessed,” he said. “ It is a little bit more special getting picked by the hometown team — you grow up watching them as a kid and you dream of playing for them one day and now I potentially have the opportunity to do that so it's awesome.”
Morgan played at Lincoln from 2014 to 2018. He made waves as a sophomore starting on varsity for then head coach Paul King. Morgan is the first player that King has coached to be drafted by MLB.
King credits a combination of Morgan’s maturity, skill, and work ethic as why he was such a vital part of the team.
“You could tell when he was a freshman that he had something special as far as an athlete goes, a very good student of the game,” he said. “ Just a real leader on the team and somebody that I could trust calling a baseball game from behind the plate so I have more than enough good things to say about him.”
Morgan finished his high school career earning First-Team All-Tri-City Athletic Conference as a junior and senior in 2017 and 2018. He continued this success at Fresno State starting all 55 games in the 2022 season. He was a big asset offensively for the Bulldogs, leading the team with 83 hits and tying for sixth in the Mountain West Conference.
He closed out his college career earning All-Mountain West First Team honors and was a finalist for the Buster Posey National Catcher of the Year Award and the ABCA/Rawlings Gold Glove.
“He had a good collegiate career and I know this is a dream of his to get drafted to a major league ball club and I'm so happy that it happened for him,” King said.
Morgan is now looking to fulfill his dream.
“It's gonna be a couple of really fun days coming up and I'm excited to get started with the Giants,” he said.
Record reporter Shannon Belt covers sports. She can be reached at sbelt@recordnet.com or on Twitter @ShannonBelt3. Support local news, subscribe to The Stockton Record at recordnet.com/subscribenow.
This article originally appeared on The Record: Lincoln High grad Zach Morgan drafted by SF Giants in seventh round
