Two percent – the chance a high school baseball player is awarded a scholarship to play the game at the Division I level. Fast forward at least three years, and the chance of those 2% making it to professional baseball is just 5%. 

But, as is the case so often in baseball, statistics and numbers don’t tell the full story. Especially when it comes to former Indiana outfielder and current program assistant Morgan Colopy.

Colopy was born in Centerville, Ohio, and started his foray into baseball at a young age. In high school, Colopy found more success: a three-year letterwinner, leading as a captain his senior year, and finished ranked as a top-100 outfielder in the country. To cap it all off, he was drafted in the 34th round by the San Francisco Giants in 2019.

Instead, he chose to attend the University of Cincinnati – but it wasn’t the right fit. After a semester there, Indiana became Colopy’s next home.

He appeared in at least 20 games every season of his career – topping out at 46 games in 2023. Just like in high school, he was chosen as a captain for his senior year in 2024. His teammates say Colopy’s impact stretches far beyond the box score.

“He spent four years here, grinding every single day,” said Indiana senior Josh Pyne. “He knows what it’s like to fail, he knows what it’s like to succeed.” And when it comes to passing that knowledge to younger players, Pyne says “he knows how to work through those things.”

After Colopy played in his 139th game in an Indiana uniform, and his playing career came to a close, he sat down with head coach Jeff Mercer to discuss his future. Neither man felt it was time for Morgan Colopy to leave the Hoosiers.

So, this year, Colopy became a program assistant with Indiana Baseball – a role that lets him continue leading off the field, and act as a bridge between the players and the staff.

“Being in a captain role in my last year, I felt like it was a gradual progression…it wasn’t a big change. The transition through roles is very similar,” Colopy said. “Coach Mercer uses me as a good resource.”

He’s a jack of all trades, of sorts. During warmups for home games at Bart Kaufman Field, Colopy can be found hitting grounders to his former teammates, catching for the outfielders, or standing at the hitting cage, as an onlooker to the players trying to get their eyes right for the game ahead. But mostly, Colopy says he is there to keep the vibes high and just be one of the guys.

In baseball, much of the limelight can be focused on one particular player in a game – whether that comes in the form of a pitcher who racks up strikeouts, or a batter who drives in the winning run. But off the field, the individual aspect goes away. Players become a team, and a team becomes a family.

And whatever might be next for Morgan Colopy, he will always have a family in Indiana baseball.