5-Star National pitcher Garrett Learn tags Jersey Shore’s Ray Cerami at the plate after rundown.
By Rich Bevensee
Fathers and sons and baseball is a story as old as the game itself.
Tyler Grzywinski and his dad Beau have added their own chapter to that story, one that could help other fathers and sons maintain their shared love of the game while overcoming expectations and demands and other things that sometimes get in the way of the relationship.
Soon after Tyler finished pitching 3⅔ scoreless innings for Jersey Shore Select 13U in a Summer Finale pool play game against 5-Star National NY-Terry, he belted stand-up triples in back-to-back innings.
Tyler finished with three hits, three RBI and two runs scored, and his pitching linescore read no runs allowed on one hit and two walks with three strikeouts in what became an eventual 14-0 victory on Saturday afternoon at Diamond Nation in Flemington.
Tyler, being coached by his dad for the first time this year after playing mostly for the Jersey Shore Wildcats, said he enjoyed sharing the dugout with his father again.
”I love that he’s just there,” Tyler said. “He’s always there for bullpens, whenever we go to pitch or hit, take ground balls. It’s always nice to see him around.”
Beau, wearing a big grin in the dugout after the game, congratulated his son and his teammates on the win, and reminded them there was another game to be played very shortly. Without a hitch he transitioned to his dad role, reflecting on his son’s talent and performance.
“Getting to watch him play on the field is a lot of fun for a lot of reasons,” Beau said. “It’s been awesome watching him progress from T-ball to now. It’s been a journey and he has worked super hard over the years. He didn’t have a great start to this year and he worked through it, got in the cage and hard work pays off. I’m super proud of him.”
Keegan Leone, hustling back to first, was the only 5-Star player to get a base hit.
By his own admission, it’s been a journey for Beau as well because appreciative words like that didn’t come so easily to him a year ago. The relationship with his son suffered as a result.
“I’m sure if you asked him 12 months ago if he wanted me on the field he would have said no,” Beau said. “Twelve months ago I was a different person.”
“It was just pressure, to be honest. Just felt a lot of pressure,” Tyler said. “He was always on me. Always. Sometimes it would be like a strikeout, a pop up, walk a guy – and I don’t walk too many guys. Anything went wrong and it would just feel heavy.”
To his credit, Beau recognized what was happening to their relationship, took a step back and allowed someone else to coach his son.
This is where both father and son give credit to Mike Condon. A native of Neptune, Condon played for Seton Hall University and was drafted by the Anaheim Angels in the 29th round of the 1997 MLB draft before playing three seasons of minor league ball. He is now owner of Condon’s Baseball in Manasquan and coach of the Jersey Shore Wildcats club team.
Tyler played under Condon last fall for the 12U Wildcats and again this spring and summer. Before Saturday, it had been nearly a full year since Tyler and Beau shared the same dugout. And both agree that the separation healed their relationship.
“110 percent, Mike is the reason why I can play for my dad now,” Tyler said. “Mike is the best coach I’ve ever been on the field with. Better than Dad. He’s had so much experience and he does everything right. I’ve never seen him make a mistake on the field.”
“The biggest thing I can say about Mike is that he allowed me to step away from my son, it allowed Tyler to become who he is, and it taught me how to coach,” Beau said.
“You have to let them grow into the young men they’re going to be.
Now, because I’ve taken that step back, I can have a conversation with him again.”
Tyler Grzywinski and his dad and coach, Beau, have fortified their relationship through baseball.
Tyler said he has noticed a drastic change in his father, one that has made car rides after baseball games a lot less tense and a lot more enjoyable.
“Last year he was always on me, always on me,” Tyler said. “Now I can just relax and play baseball. It’s fun now. He still occasionally gets on me like a good coach should, like a good dad should. The best part about car rides now is we can have a good mature conversation about everything that happened. Our car rides now are amazing.”
For Jersey Shore Select, once Grzywinski reached his pitch count of 55 pitches – he’s still got three more tournaments scheduled to play with the Wildcats – Ray Cerami took over and pitched 2⅓ more innings of shutout baseball. Cerami allowed no hits and only one walk while striking out three.
Offensively, JSS owned a 5-0 lead through five innings before batting around in the sixth and scoring nine runs on seven hits and two walks.
JSS got a boost from Liam Trombly, who went 1-for-3 with a walk, a sacrifice fly and two RBI. Jeremiah Scates had an RBI double, Kellan Boedigheimer drove in two runs with a fielder’s choice and a base hit, and Matthew Rose had an RBI single. Grzywinski, Collin Gallagher, Cole Curley, Vinny Snyder and Cooper Horst all scored twice.