By BRENDAN McGAIR

Sports writer

PAWTUCKET — The PawSox find themselves in the market for a new hitting coach after posting a franchise-worse .234 team batting average this season.
Russ Morman, Pawtucket’s hitting instructor over the last two seasons, was fired shortly after Monday’s season finale in Syracuse. Several members of Boston’s front office drove to upstate New York to deliver the news to Morman in person.
Director of player development Mike Hazen confirmed Morman’s ouster earlier this week via e-mail, saying “we are not renewing Russ’s contract.”
Pawtucket was the picture of offensive ineptness in 2009, both from an individual and team standpoint. Collectively the PawSox finished 19 points behind the second-most anemic batting club in the International League (Buffalo-.254). Of the 14-team circuit, they also produced the fewest amount of runs (486), hits (1,099), doubles (219), total bases (1,602) while bringing up the rear in slugging percentage (.342).
The lowest the team batting average dipped was .228 on July 10. It hovered around .230 for a little over a month and stood at .229 as late as Aug. 26. A semi-tear over the final two weeks helped raise it somewhat, but not enough to save Morman’s job.
The incredible omen about the PawSox’ doldrums — besides getting shutout an incredible 18 times — was that not a single player hit above his career average. Team MVP Chris Carter was tops with a .294 average.
    Equally puzzling was the nose dive of several players who migrated from Double-A Portland to Pawtucket, among the list first baseman Aaron Bates, catcher Mark Wagner and outfielder Bubba Bell. Bates, who batted .340 in 52 games for the Sea Dogs, “slumped” to .213 in 76 contests with Pawtucket. Wagner checked in with a .301 average at the time of his promotion before spiraling downward to .214 in 43 contests with the PawSox. Bell went from a .275 hitter in Portland to .208 with Pawtucket.
While young hitters tend to struggle upon graduating from the Eastern League to the I.L., the lengthy struggles of Bates, Bell and Wagner suggest something stretched beyond swing mechanics. The ironic thing is that the 2008 PawSox, also under Morman’s watch, topped the league in runs, home runs and walks drawn.
“Russ was a very hard working and good coach within the Red Sox minor league system,” said Hazen.  “Unfortunately we felt a change needed to be made at the current 3-A position.” 
Morman, a quiet sort, has been a staple in Boston’s farm system in each of the last seven seasons. He spent 2004-07 as Portland’s hitting coach after serving managing the Augusta Greenjackets, the Red Sox’ Single-A affiliate at the time, to a 49-87 record in 2003. 
The 47-year-old Morman had a pro career that spanned 17 seasons, including parts of nine seasons at the big league level with the White Sox , Royals and Marlins. Morman was part of the ’97 Florida squad that captured the World Series in seven games against Cleveland. He was a career .297 hitter.
Hazen said there is no specific timetable for Morman’s replacement to be named.