Daily Pilot Athlete of the Week: Brian Morton - Power-packed

Tony Altobelli

What turned out to be a loss in the baseball world, became a

tremendous gain in the tennis world.

Corona del Mar High boys tennis standout Brian Morton grew up loving

both sports, but when high school came around, he had to make the

all-important decision.

“Not everyone can be good in two different sports,” Morton said. “I’m

no Deion Sanders or Bo Jackson or anything. I played both sports my whole

life growing up, but I stuck with tennis when I got to CdM.”

Lucky for CdM tennis coach Tim Mang. Sorry, CdM baseball coach John

Emme.

For those who have followed Morton’s singles career during the Sea

Kings’ Pacific Coast League matchups, some may be surprised to hear how

good a doubles player he is.

“He’s a much better doubles player than a singles player,” Mang said.

“He’s very aggressive, which is important in doubles play, but that can

get him into troubles in singles. Brian wanted to play singles during the

team competitions, so we let him and he has done a great job there, as

well.”

But it was last week’s doubles play with sophomore Garrett Snyder that

helped Morton become this week’s Daily Pilot Athlete of the Week.

Morton and Snyder pulled out a 6-4, 6-2 win over Phil Sheng and Andrew

Lieu of Thousand Oaks in the CIF Southern Section doubles championship

Saturday.

It was the first doubles title for an Orange County team since 1992

when San Clemente’s Dan Roditi and Jeff Mardsen accomplished the feat.

“Garrett and I do a great job of reading each other on the court,”

Morton said. “In the finals, we didn’t let a single ball go up the middle

between us and there wasn’t any clashing of racquets or anything. When we

play well, there isn’t too many weaknesses between us.”

In addition to his strong play with Snyder, Morton has won five USTA

sectional doubles championships. His most recent came November 19 when he

teamed up with Manhattan Beach’s K.C. Corkery and defeated the Rancho

Palos Verdes duo of Rylan Rizza and Jeff Kazarian, 5-7, 6-2, 7-6.

Morton acknowledges his style is more suited to doubles, but hewill

still play both next season at UC Irvine.

“Singles play is completely different than doubles,” Morton said. “You

have to be much more patient in singles and you have to have different

shots. I’m trying to be more patient as a singles player, but I think I’m

ready to make an immediate contribution for UCI next year.”

Morton, ranked 59th in the 18s and 10th in Southern California, began

playing at the age of 3. “My family would take me to Mesa Verde and I’d

play as long as I could,” Morton said. “I believe my biggest strength is

my volleys and court coverage. My biggest thing I need to work on is my

shot selection -- hitting the right shot at the right time.”

With the 2001 French Open underway, does Morton see a potential visit

to Rolon Garros clay or Wimbledon grass in his future?

“Right now, I’m focused on the next step for me, which is college,”

Morton said. “If things happen where a future beyond college is

available, I’ll look into it. I’m not relying on that for a career,

however.”