Chris Wido enters his third season as head baseball coach at Morton College. Under Wido’s leadership, the Panther program is producing record-setting numbers both on and off the field.
The Panthers won 67 games in Wido’s first two years. Morton College’s 35 wins in 2023 matched a program record and the 32 wins the year before were the most by any first-year head baseball coach in Morton College history. Back-to-back 30-win seasons were another program first.
Morton College’s most robust offensive unit since the early 1990s featured a top-10 squad nationally in eight different offensive categories with fifth-place finishes in team batting average (.356), RBI (505), runs scored (552) and hits (650). The Panthers were sixth in doubles (135), seventh in slugging percentage (.563), ninth in on-base average (.455) and 10th in home runs (74).
Miguel Cantu was Morton College’s first NJCAA All-American player in program history and Luke Ulbert earned an NCAA Division I scholarship to Siena University. Cantu also was named the Skyway Conference’s Most Valuable Player, the first Panther to be honored since 1995.
In addition, shortstop Thomas Schroeder was the recipient of a Region IV Gold Glove and the Region IV Defensive Player of the Year in 2022.
The Panthers also were a big hit in the classroom, earning an ABCA Team Excellence Academic Award for the second straight year. Thirteen of Morton College’s 28 players recorded a perfect 4.0 grade-point average in the 2023 Spring Semester and eight received NJCAA All-Academic honors.
"I'm extremely proud of what guys did in the classroom," Wido said. "Academics are very important. For me, it's just not about the baseball stuff. My goal is to set our players up for future success. By not making grades a priority, we're short-changing them."
Wido preaches the baseball road ends at some time for every player.
"It's important to leave Morton College with a degree in hand and a place to continue their education," Wido noted.
This is Wido’s 10th season overall associated with the Morton College baseball program. He spent five years as an assistant coach before moving over from the passenger seat to the driver’s seat.
Wido’s witnessed what Morton College’s program can do as he’s had a hand in helping send over 30 players to four-year schools in his time here as a coach. As a second-generation MC baseball alum, Wido’s living proof of Morton College’s transformative powers. He came to Morton College with limited playing time at the high school level at St. Charles North and developed into a NCAA Division I player at Chicago State.
“We sell players on the opportunities here,” said Wido, who also is Morton College’s director of the Fitness and Nutrition Center. “I go back to myself. I wasn’t a starter in high school. Morton College was my only opportunity to continue playing college baseball. I was able to develop and get a Division I scholarship. Tell me that coming out of high school and I’d never would have believed you.
“That’s the approach I take. This is a place you can have an opportunity to play right away, receive a quality education and a chance to continue developing. It’s a chance to reshuffle the deck and see what opportunities are available.”
Morton College also has been a place where Wido spread his coaching wings as an assistant on the staffs of previous head coaches Nestor Carrillo and Tad Slowik, who spent over 20 years in the Houston Astros organization.
“The biggest thing Nestor taught me was how to make the tough decisions and do what’s best for the team,” Wido said. “I learned a lot about the game from Tad. He also helped in making connections and building relationships. That opened a lot of doors.”
Looking back at it, Wido appreciated the amount of responsibility Morton College’s past two head coaches gave him to get to this point.
“Both gave me the freedom to run with my own ideas and develop as a coach,” Wido said. “They helped me with implementing player development and training protocols.”
Wido’s decade-long association with Morton College baseball gives him a good handle on the Region IV and Skyway Conference ins and outs.
“I know the conference well,” Wido stated. “I know the region well. I have a good understanding of the JUCO dynamic with quick turnarounds. I understand what we need to do be successful over the long haul.”
He understands the vibe you get when you pull up into Madison and McHenry. That’s something Wido wants to emulate.
“We’re going to recruit high-class individuals who are not only going to get it done on the field but also in the classroom as well,” Wido said. “We want to create a standard for what Morton College baseball will be about. Look at programs like Madison and McHenry. They do things the right way. It’s something you pick up on right away. Their team culture is something special. It’s something you see when you pull into their place.”
Wido’s goal is to continue to find four-year schools for those interested in playing at the next level.
“We want to make sure we keep them moving on, but also with an associate’s degree in hand,” noted Wido, whose father Mitch played baseball and hockey at Morton College. “We’re really going to push the academic side and stress the importance for success in the classroom.”
Wido played for Gene Rausch at Morton College in 2013 and 2014, earning all-Skyway Conference honors both seasons and the Morton College Foundation’s Chico Carrasquel Scholarship in 2013.
He parlayed his time at Morton College into a baseball scholarship at Chicago State University, where Wido received a bachelor’s degree in psychology. He also a master’s degree in sports leadership from Concordia University Chicago.
Wido also has head coaching experience with the Windy City Prospects in the Metro Collegiate League the past three seasons. He also serves as a Midwest area scout for the Southern Shores Professional Baseball League, an independent professional league based in North Carolina.
Wido has watched the transformation of Morton College’s athletic program and training facilities under the leadership of former President Stan Fields and athletic director Jason Nichols. Morton College’s home baseball field underwent a significant upgrade with the hiring of Chicago White Sox groundskeeper Roger Bossard to redo the playing surface.
New dugouts, a backstop, fencing and six batting cages were part of the upgrades in the 2022 season. Wido says these recent changes makes it feel like Morton College has a field it can call its own after years of playing at park district facilities.
“I’m grateful to Jason Nichols and Dr. Stan Fields for giving me the opportunity,” said Wido when hired as baseball coach in 2022. “Both have been tremendously supportive of athletics. I love their vision. The program has taken a 180-degree turn in terms of facilities. It’s an exciting time in Morton College athletic history.”
