New Valley Blue Sox coach Endy Morales wants to ‘bring a championship back to Holyoke’
Published: 01-06-2025 8:01 AM |
The Valley Blue Sox announced last week that Endy Morales, a Holyoke product and former Blue Sox pitcher, would be its new head coach beginning this summer.
Morales pitched for the Blue Sox from 2016-2019 and collected a couple of NECBL championships, a Robin Roberts NECBL Pitcher of the Year award in 2018 and also had his No. 40 number retired by the team.
Morales is the current head coach at Dean College and is looking forward to his first summertime head coaching opportunity.
“That’s a big point,” Morales said. “I’m trying not to look past the spring, but summer ball is a whole different grind. I’m really interested to see how I adapt and how I develop in that world, where it’s completely different.”
Following his college playing career at Southern New Hampshire and West Virginia that ended in 2020, Morales has had coaching gigs at Elms College, Western New England as well as at Amherst College as its pitching coach during the 2023 season. Morales felt accepting another coaching job with a team he’s very familiar with in the Blue Sox was an easy one.
“There’s a lot of factors that played into it. I think the one at the forefront was the personal connection,” Morales said. “Obviously, to me personally, I played with them for four summers, had a lot success with them, very thankful for that and obviously it’s in my hometown, so there’s the family connection there.
“Then you add in the perks of the NECBL and what that can do for a younger coach like myself, trying to build up the resume and the NECBL is phenomenal for that,” Morales said. “I think the new ownership with the Blue Sox, their vision is just phenomenal and I just thought this was the perfect time to do it.”
Dean College finished the 2024 season 12-23 during Morales’ first go-around as head coach, which was a three-win improvement from the year prior.
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The Valley Blue Sox went 21-22 last year and finished 3.5 games behind the Bristol Blues in the West Division standings. Morales hopes his fresh voice and new coaching style can guide the Blue Sox back to the promised land this summer.
“For me it kind of starts with one word — communication,” Morales said. “I communicate really well with my guys and in return, there’s a lot of trust, kind of like that open-door policy. I’m super intense when it comes to expectations, higher expectations, be a pro on the field, but all of that can be a little bit easier when you know you can communicate with the coach, whether it’s good or bad.
“In terms of on the field, I’m very aggressive, whether it’s on the mound, on the base paths, in the box, a super aggressive approach,” Morales said. “I think making teams execute, do the things in terms of averages, perfect relays and cuts, all of those things, I’m willing to do all those things to test everybody.”
Morales was the former No. 1 ranked high-school pitcher in Massachusetts in 2015. He then moved on to college baseball at Division I West Virginia for two seasons, before coming back to New England at D-II Southern New Hampshire. Morales went 11-4 and had a 3.13 earned-run average in 24 appearances for the Penmen.
The Blue Sox haven’t won a NECBL title since they went back-to-back in 2017 and 2018. Morales was a key figure in both of those championship teams as a player and now, the former flamethrower is eyeing another one, this time as their head coach.
“To connect, be an extension of development and provide just a wonderful experience in the summer,” Morales said on his goal this summer. “At the root of all that, I selfishly want to bring a championship back to Holyoke. I think there’s always been a weird stigma around summer ball, where it’s just like, ‘ah, it’s just summer ball.’ I want to leave an impact day-in and day-out, showing them it’s more than just summer ball. It’s a wonderful opportunity, it’s the closest thing you’re going to get to pro ball before pro ball.
“Obviously, connect, develop, be an extension of the development that they get at school and then obviously build relationships, but I want to bring a championship back and have these kids experience what it feels like to win,” Morales said.
The Blue Sox begin their summer slate in June, with home games at MacKenzie Stadium in Holyoke. The full schedule won’t be released until later this winter, and Valley’s roster will come together in the spring.