BATH — When Garrett Olson was first hired by Morse, he didn’t want to be a high school baseball coach for long. Fourteen years later, he can’t get away.

Garrett Olson returns to Morse baseball for his second stint as head coach. Courtesy of Garrett Olson

Olson, the head coach of the Shipbuilders from 2010-18 and then an assistant since 2022, is returning as the lead coach this season.

“I was obviously pretty young at the time,” Olson, 39, said. “I was only 24, 25 and got the job. After doing my first year of coaching, I fell in love with coaching high school baseball. (I) just loved the age group, loved the kids, where they’re at, (and) how much you could work with them. So I kind of ditched the idea of going on and coaching in college.”

The Oxford Hills star and Division-II All-American at Franklin Pierce University in New Hampshire, Olson got into coaching after back injuries ended a four-year minor league baseball career. In 2010, Olson was tasked with turning around a team that had won only one game over the previous three seasons. Within the next three seasons, he led the team to the Class B regional semifinal.

“We are fortunate to have Garrett back at the helm of our baseball program at Morse,” Athletic Director Andrew Pelletier said in a statement posted on social media. “He has been an integral piece to the program’s success and stood out during an impressive interview process. He has done it on the field and as a coach — which will relate well to our student athletes.”

In 2018, Olson decided to step away from coaching in order to spend more time with his family and young son.

“My reason for never leaving before was I didn’t feel like the program would be in good hands,” he said. “So when (Niko Ruiz) was willing to take over and we had something young and ambitious, I was like, ‘Alright, it’s a good time for me to step away.'”

In 2022, Ruiz would call Olson to ask for assistant coaching help as Ruiz was set to pursue a job in law enforcement. Understanding the time commitment necessary to juggle both careers (Olson currently works for Sagadahoc County Sherriff’s Department), the former head coach obliged.

“I missed it for years, but it’s always tough to take that step to get back into it,” Olson said. “I kind of got, not forced back into it, but it was a rushed decision, and I was glad it happened. I went back full time the last three years, and then Niko is now moving on. I felt comfortable taking (managing duties) back over now that my kid’s older.”

Now in his second tenure as head coach, Olson won’t have face the challenges of a total rebuild or winning over a team of strangers as Morse has qualified for the Class B playoffs each of the past three seasons.

While he wants to win games, Olson is more concerned with fostering individual and team development. He is eager to help his players get opportunities he didn’t receive until later in his career, like help with the college recruitment process, as well as develop an understanding of situational hitting and other nuances of the game. He even wants players to have a chance to play baseball outside of Maine.

In 2018, Morse and Cheverus chartered a flight to hold “five days of sun-up, sundown baseball” at a complex in Vero Beach, Fla.

“They all look back at their high school careers and they’ll tell me that’s the most fun (they) ever had doing anything,” Olson said. “And we’re down there playing preseason games and practicing…Those memories are things that I look back in my career and I appreciate.”

Olson is hoping to organize something similar for future preseasons.

Regardless where games are played, Olson looks forward to another chance to manage Morse baseball next spring.

“I played for a bunch of coaches that I liked, I played for a bunch of coaches I didn’t like,” he said. “I’ve taken a lot of that, their attitudes and things they did, and tailored my approach with kids around that. It’s a big commitment for them to play high school athletics, and it’s also big honor. My players can probably speak for it that. I’ll tell them straight out that nobody’s going to fight for you more than I will, but you’ve got to be willing to work. Those guys that are willing to put in the work, that truly want to get better and succeed, I’ll help them do whatever they need to do to get there.”