Story byThe Daily Astorian, Ore.

Hometown Report: Warrenton grad's hard work pays off

Paul Matli, The Daily Astorian, Ore.Sat, Jul 11, 2026·6 min read

Warrenton High School graduate Jacob Morrow is a classic case of hard work pays off.

The 24 year old was a versatile athlete at Warrenton excelling in football, basketball and baseball. Though Morrow was a three-sport athlete, like many of the high schoolers in Clatsop County, his best sport was baseball.

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Morrow made the Warrenton varsity baseball team as a freshman and was a two-time all-state player his sophomore and junior years. Due to Morrow graduating in 2020, he missed out on much of his senior year due to the pandemic.

After graduating from Warrenton, he went on to attend Linn Benton Community College in Albany, then finished up his college career at Washington State University. Much like in his high school days, Morrow was a standout in baseball at both Linn Benton and WSU. He spent two years as a starter on a very competitive Linn Benton roster, before being named to the Buster Posey watch list his senior year as a Cougar. The Buster Posey Award, formerly known as the Johnny Bench Award, was created in 2000 to honor college baseball’s top catcher in the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s Division I. The award was renamed in 2019 after Johnny Bench announced the creation of his own national award for amateur catchers. The commission renamed it after Buster Posey and schools nominate their catchers during the season to create the official watch list.

Upon graduating from college in 2024, Morrow took his talents to Cleburne, Texas and the Independent League. The small town located about 40 minutes outside of Fort Worth served as the start of Morrow’s professional baseball journey. Brian Bruney was the last player from Clatsop County to make it to the Major Leagues. Bruney had a 9-year big league career and won a World Series with the New York Yankees in 2009. Morrow hopes his time playing in the Independent League will help him get there.

The Independent League is a partner league of Major League Baseball, but not an affiliate. Founded in 1993, the league currently has over 100 total teams spread throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico. Players in the Independent league either include those trying to break into the big leagues, players on the last stages of their career or former minor league players that were recently cut from big league rosters. Think of the league as something similar to the NBA’s G League or NFL’s Practice Squad.

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Morrow moved to Nebraska this year and he is currently a member of the Lincoln Saltdogs. The Lincoln Saltdogs is a professional baseball team competing in the West Division of the American Association of Professional Baseball. After only hitting .170 in 2025, Morrow is on a tear in 2026. Currently, he’s hitting .375 with a 1.025 OPS in 80 at bats. These numbers were enough for Morrow to be named an Independent League all-star.

“It’s awesome,” Morrow said. “This is my second year in the league and it’s a great feeling. I’m grateful to be able to play and also to feel the support back home. So many people in the community have reached out to congratulate me.”

Morrow said being able to represent the Oregon Coast and Warrenton is something he takes seriously.

“The support you get from a small town is something you don’t find in bigger cities. To grow up in a small town and leave is a great opportunity. I still get text messages from kids that I’ve trained and friends and family.”

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According to Morrow, the average age of those in the Independent League is 27 or 28. He said his team last year consisted of 10 former big leaguers and guys who have played as high up as Double-A (AA) and Triple-A (AAA) baseball. Triple-A is the final stepping stone before the Majors.

Morrow’s former coach Lennie Wolfe said everything Morrow has accomplished is due to hard work.

“Jake is about as good a human being as a guy would hope to meet,” Wolfe said. “He’s been very giving of his time working with the youth in this area — so to see him have success is gratifying. As a ballplayer he’s achieved success at every level. He was a two-year all-state player for us, and despite missing his senior season, he still found a way to make an impact on the diamond.”

According to Wolfe, Morrow found a summer league in Longview, Washington his senior season that helped him get ready for his time at Linn-Benton.

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It was much harder to salvage something during COVID, Wolfe said, “and Jake was lucky to find a program that helped him manage a summer season. He just had to work that much harder to achieve his goals.”

While Morrow has served as a mentor for many kids in Astoria, Warrenton, Seaside, Knappa, Ilwaco, and Naselle, he turned to one himself this past season, a World Series Champion.

“I talked with Brian Bruney this offseason and most of his advice was about taking the stress out of playing baseball,” Morrow said. “The game’s already hard enough and we have to play 100 games over a course of five months, so he told me just be as carefree as possible.”

Giving back to the community by mentorship

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Though Morrow is chasing his own dreams of playing in Major League baseball, he still takes time out of his day to work with local athletes in the Pacific Northwest. Morrow loves returning to his old stomping grounds after the baseball season to mentor young athletes up and down the coast.

Morrow has even started his own athletic coaching and mentorship company called JMO Performance. The company offers sport-specific training for athletes who want to take their games to the next level.

“I’ve done it the past two years and plan to do it again this year,” Morrow said. “On average, I train anywhere from 300 to 400 kids from age 6 all the way to college. This is my way of giving back to a community I love so much.”

Though Morrow is based in Astoria and Warrenton, he also trains athletes from Seaside, Knappa, Naselle and Ilwaco.

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“I always feel happy when I drive by the high school and see Jake out there working with young kids,” Wolfe said. “A lot of people respected Jake for not only his accomplishments, but also how he carried himself. It’s quite a testament to his character that whenever he comes home so many people want to get around him and see him.”

When asked about his future, Morrow said he has set his sights high.

“Next step for me is to do well enough in the Independent League that I can earn a contract with an MLB organization.”

For those who want to watch Morrow play in the Independent League All-Star game, the game will be Wednesday, July 15 and is scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m. Pacific Time. The game will be streamed on the MLB Network from Lincoln, Nebraska.