NATCHEZ &045; Gill Morris’ time away from the Adams Christian baseball program was a lot like a Timmy Foster fastball.

You barely saw it.

On Tuesday AC headmaster John Gray announced Morris will return as head coach of the Rebels’ baseball team in 2005 after he offered his resignation back in May following the club’s appearance in the Class AAA state championship.

Morris returns after previous assistant Ron Rushing accepted the job in May but resigned July 15 to take a position in private business.

&uot;It just seemed to fall back in my lap,&uot; said Morris, who led the team to its second appearance in the state championship in his four seasons at the school. &uot;I’m excited about it and looking forward to it. My head is kind of cleared now and ready to work on the field, swing the bats and so forth.&uot;

The decision capped off nearly a month of searching and an almost manic search for a coach following Rushing’s departure late in the summer. The school was already in search of basketball coaches, a track coach and a junior high football coach when Rushing resigned.

It didn’t leave Gray and school officials with many options, so he decided to make Morris a pitch to return. The veteran coach will be able to coach his son, Jamie, during his senior season.

&uot;I’m real pleased he made the decision to stay on,&uot; Gray said. &uot;His son is a senior this year. He wanted somebody real good, and we did, too. I just asked him if he’s consider it. He said he’d do it for the coming year. He said he’d let me know three-fourths of the way in the year if he would do it again.&uot;

The decision wasn’t based solely on coaching his son’s senior season, Morris said. But the idea was enough to get the wheels turning and to start correspondence between the coach and Gray to possibly coach another season.

Jamie Morris, a light-hitting shortstop in past seasons, blossomed significantly at the plate over the summer after establishing himself defensively in past seasons.

&uot;When the opportunity presented itself, he was the first person I talked to,&uot; Morris said. &uot;He was excited about it, and that excited me. That wasn’t the overriding factor. The overriding factor was things had to be worked out.

&uot;I pondered it for a couple of weeks. Some things had to be worked out, and they were.&uot;

Morris’ initial decision came back on April 24, prior to the start of the playoffs and the controversy in the state championship with Jackson Prep where weather halted the series for almost two weeks.

Game 1 was halted by rain with the game tied at 3-3, the second time the Patriots had made a trip to Natchez. Officials at Prep did not want to travel to Natchez to finish Game 1, despite what Morris said were MPSA rules that call for the lower seed to host the opening game of a playoff series.

MPSA officials ruled the game to be continued at Jackson Prep. The Rebels lost Game 1 and Game 2 as the Patriots won the state title.

Now the Rebels have a number of players off that team returning when they drop down to the Class AAA level. The team may also get former Cathedral standout pitcher Corey Walker, who Gray said has enrolled at the school after serving as the No. 2 pitcher on Cathedral’s state championship team in May.

Walker and Foster could become a formidable 1-2 punch on the mound, but Morris downplayed the idea and reminded the 2005 season is a long, long ways away.

&uot;Here’s my take &045; anybody that comes in has to try out and make the team,&uot; he said. &uot;We have had some kids come in who I think can help the program, but I still have to have tryouts.

&uot;We were the smallest triple-A school to start with, and going down to double-A makes us about the biggest school. But it’s not going to be a cakewalk.&uot;