​Tennessee has announced that Gary Morse, a right-handed pitcher who signed with the Volunteers, will join Tennessee for the upcoming season after participating in the 2026 MLB Draft process, per multiple outlets on July 12. Morse went through the draft without being selected in the first 10 rounds. In the scouting rankings, Perfect Game lists him as the fourth-best right-handed pitcher prospect in California and the 94th-ranked recruit nationally. By contrast, MLB Pipeline had him at No. 141 nationally, while ESPN placed him at No. 98.
Standing 6-foot-8, Morse began making his mark at Orange Lutheran High School in Orange, California, near Anaheim, where he set the program’s career strikeouts record. He surpassed a lineage of notable alumni that includes Gerrit Cole, underscoring the level of talent he brings to the mound. Morse publicly committed to the Volunteers in January 2025, selecting Tennessee over several other high-profile programs, including in-state rival Vanderbilt and Texas A&M, among others.
The decision to join the Vols comes after Morse weighed his options during the 2026 draft cycle, choosing to continue his development at the collegiate level rather than pursuing a professional path immediately after high school. His signing agreement with Tennessee solidifies a compelling addition to the Volunteers’ pitching corps, aiming to bolster the team’s rotation with a left-to-right-handed balance and extend the program’s tradition of developing pitching prospects into major-league-ready arms.
Emmett Siegel, who covers Tennessee baseball for Knox News, has followed Morse’s journey closely. For more on this story and related Tennessee baseball coverage, Siegel can be reached at emmett.siegel@knoxnews.com, and on X at @EmmettSiegel_. This piece originally appeared in the Knoxville News Sentinel, highlighting Morse’s decision to turn down the 2026 MLB Draft and to play for the Volunteers, a move positioned to benefit the team as it gears up for the upcoming season.