Column: West M's Lyons was a true throwback

Dylan Lyons adheres to one pitching theory without exception — no matter the circumstances, always finish what you start.

That's exactly what he did for West Muskingum's baseball team.

In two years of pitching for the Tornadoes, he never was taken out of a game. If the left arm still moved, Lyons still fired toward home.

If he were still alive, Hall of Famer Cy Young would have nodded in appreciation.

"He's just a warrior," West Muskingum coach Jason Wilkin said following Saturday's Division III district final loss to West Lafayette Ridgewood. "I've even had umpires come up to me after games and say what a warrior he is, always making the game close to give us a chance in the end."

Lyons wasn't at his best against the Generals, as an air-tight strike zone led to a rare bout of wildness. But he didn't come out of the game, even after Wilkin made two mound visits.

Former Pirates, Marlins and Tigers manager Jim Leyland would have chain-smoked himself into oblivion watching Lyons, who made escaping jams — even at the risk of piling up pitches — his trademark this postseason.

These days, pitch count theories are shared ad nauseum, from 12-and-under travel ball to MLB.

Pitching coaches monitor them like stock brokers fearing the big crash. The majority do everything to avoid it.

Lyons made it clear he doesn't care about pitch counts. If Randy Johnson and Roger Clemens were workhorses in the big leagues, Lyons was a true beast of burden.

That Lyons pitched a complete game on three days rest on Saturday, after twirling a 1-0 gem against top-seeded Garaway last Tuesday, is a surprise to no one.

He needed 145 pitches on two days of rest in the sectional finals to earn a nine-inning win against Cadiz Harrison Central. That, of course, came after he threw 101 in a 4-1 win against Belmont Union Local in the tournament opener.

In an era when pitchers are protected like family heirlooms, watching a bulldog like Lyons shun modern logic is refreshing. When his team needed a big win, he wanted the ball regardless of circumstance.

Lyons determination epitomized the no retreat, no surrender mentality that rallied West from some tough spots in the tournament.

"He's a tough kid mentally," senior Seth Mirgon said following the extra-inning win against Harrison Central. "He's going to fight no matter what, so it's always good to have someone like that on your team."

There may be a time when Lyons, probably while pitching batting practice to his kids' little league team, asks himself why he erred on the side of stubborn in his high school days.

But Lyons threw caution to the wind for the betterment of his team.

And he won plenty of fans because of it.

sblackburn@zanesvilletimesrecorder.com

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Twitter: @SamBlackburnTR