Inspiration To Teams Big and Little

College of S.Md. Coach Was Killed in Car Crash

Thomas L. Morrison was a man who answered to many names: Tommy, Dad, Grandpa. Any of the three could cause the 66-year-old La Plata man to turn his head.

But to most people, family members and friends say, he answered to a different title: Coach.

Morrison, who coached softball for more than 20 years at the College of Southern Maryland and was active in the Waldorf American Little League for nearly 35 years, was killed Wednesday when his vehicle swerved off Oaks Road in Charlotte Hall and crashed into a tree.

Police think that Morrison experienced a medical emergency that caused him to lose control of the car, said Kristen Timko, a spokeswoman for the Charles County Sheriff's Office. Family members, who have not seen the medical examiner's final report, said they suspected the emergency was a heart attack or a problem related to Morrison's diabetes.

Morrison had a storied coaching career at the college and Little League levels. He led the College of Southern Maryland's softball team to six NJCAA tournament appearances and was inducted into the college's Hall of Fame last year. His 16-to-18-year-old girls' softball teams went to the Little League World Series four times, winning at least twice, his daughter Sheri Morrison said. And he led his Little League boys baseball team to the World Series twice, winning in the 13-year-old division in 1986, she said.

"He'd go from one field to the next," said Sheri Morrison, 42, who lived with her father in La Plata. "He's just coached so many people."

Thomas Morrison grew up in Lowell, Mass. He moved to Southern Maryland in 1969 because of his work in the Air Force, his daughter said. He quickly got involved in Little League, she said, even helping to start a girls' softball program when she turned 13. Morrison coached his daughter through her college years.

"He was hard on me, but I learned a lot from him, and he made me a better player," his daughter said. "What he taught was more than a game; he taught that you win gracefully, and you lose gracefully."

John Creaturo, 65, who coached with Morrison at the College of Southern Maryland, said he was "a great tactician" whose incredible memory was surpassed only by his love of children. But Creaturo also said that Morrison was a hard-nosed coach who knew how to win.

Creaturo recalled an instance when Morrison's team was facing Hagerstown Community College in a regional game, and a reporter from a Hagerstown newspaper said he was ready to go to the national tournament with the Hagerstown team. The comment implied Hagerstown would beat the College of Southern Maryland.

"Tommy said, 'I don't think you're going anywhere but home,' " Creaturo recalled. He was right: The Southern Maryland team won and eventually went to the national tournament.

Morrison is survived by two daughters, Sheri and Susie; a son Tommy; and four grandchildren. A viewing is scheduled from 2 to 7 p.m. Monday at Regency Furniture Stadium, with the funeral beginning at 7.