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Over the last decade, professional baseball scouts have shown favor towards pitchers on the taller end of the spectrum. On average, somewhere between 6-foot-4 and 6-foot-5 catches the eye.
Well, Lake Weir High School's starting pitcher, Lyric Hartley, measures 6-foot-8, demanding attention when he takes the mound.
Hartley isn’t just the tallest baseball player in Marion County, he’s also the tallest high school athlete in the county, regardless of sport. He’s so tall that most people guess he’s a basketball player long before being shocked shocked by his love for the sport on the diamond.
“We joke about it because everywhere I go, somebody asks me if I play basketball,” Hartley said. “They never think I play baseball.”
By seventh grade, Hartley stood 6-foot-1, almost a foot taller than your average 12- to 13-year-old boy.
With many thinking he was destined to be the next big thing in basketball, he was following in the footsteps of the tallest players to ever take the mound.
Being the tallest player on the teams he's played on and being the center of attention when pitching came with a few choice words from competitors. If you’ve ever been close enough to a dugout to hear its banter, you know things can get rowdy.
After almost a decade of gameplay, Hartley has heard everything you can fling at nearly 7-foot ball player.
“Oh, I’ve heard a lot,” Hartley said. “Just me being tall. Giant. Randy Johnson, I’ve heard that before, but not in a good way. Slinky, kids call me that. Slender man is the big one.”
It’s taken a while for Hartley to get used to the attempts to get in his head and under his skin.
As recently as his junior year, it has impacted his play. Now, as a senior, the words roll right off his back and into his fuel tank.
“When I do hear (the remarks) and get the strikeout, it fires me up even more to keep going and pitching good,” Hartley said.
Against West Port, he emptied the tank, throwing a complete shutout for one of the best games of his high school career.
The three-year varsity player has become the Hurricane's ace. He has a career-high three wins and a career-low 3.1 ERA through four starts this season.
While under-recruited, Hartley has a frame that comes around once in a generation in baseball. Lake Weir baseball head coach Dale Broom has spent the last 30 years coaching with his sport outreach ministry and says he's run across a few pitchers Hartley's size — but the number is small.
“We don’t get many this tall, but I’ve had one about Lyric's height, about his height — maybe a half inch or shorter,” Broom said. “Lyric may be the tallest, but there’s a couple of others right there with him.”
Hartley’s height and connection with older teammates give the senior captain a unique approach to leadership. The things he’s experienced could make some reserved or nervous to make new connections, fearing they could be as cruel as others.
But that’s not Hartley’s approach to his senior season.
He remembers how his older teammates guided him through the early rough patches of his career.
Hartley's tall shadow now protects the freshmen who look up to him.
“I love playing here,” Hartley said. “All the forms that I’ve made and relationships with people, teammates, and past teammates I still talk to and hang out with. Now, being a senior with freshmen coming in, it’s a lot different. I see them and think about when I was a freshman and all the seniors there. So I try to be a good influence and be friendly with all the freshmen.”
This article originally appeared on Ocala Star-Banner: Lake Weir baseball's 6-foot-8 pitcher Lyric Hartley standing tall in senior season
Continue reading...
Well, Lake Weir High School's starting pitcher, Lyric Hartley, measures 6-foot-8, demanding attention when he takes the mound.
Hartley isn’t just the tallest baseball player in Marion County, he’s also the tallest high school athlete in the county, regardless of sport. He’s so tall that most people guess he’s a basketball player long before being shocked shocked by his love for the sport on the diamond.
“We joke about it because everywhere I go, somebody asks me if I play basketball,” Hartley said. “They never think I play baseball.”
By seventh grade, Hartley stood 6-foot-1, almost a foot taller than your average 12- to 13-year-old boy.
With many thinking he was destined to be the next big thing in basketball, he was following in the footsteps of the tallest players to ever take the mound.
Being the tallest player on the teams he's played on and being the center of attention when pitching came with a few choice words from competitors. If you’ve ever been close enough to a dugout to hear its banter, you know things can get rowdy.
After almost a decade of gameplay, Hartley has heard everything you can fling at nearly 7-foot ball player.
“Oh, I’ve heard a lot,” Hartley said. “Just me being tall. Giant. Randy Johnson, I’ve heard that before, but not in a good way. Slinky, kids call me that. Slender man is the big one.”
It’s taken a while for Hartley to get used to the attempts to get in his head and under his skin.
As recently as his junior year, it has impacted his play. Now, as a senior, the words roll right off his back and into his fuel tank.
“When I do hear (the remarks) and get the strikeout, it fires me up even more to keep going and pitching good,” Hartley said.
Against West Port, he emptied the tank, throwing a complete shutout for one of the best games of his high school career.
The three-year varsity player has become the Hurricane's ace. He has a career-high three wins and a career-low 3.1 ERA through four starts this season.
While under-recruited, Hartley has a frame that comes around once in a generation in baseball. Lake Weir baseball head coach Dale Broom has spent the last 30 years coaching with his sport outreach ministry and says he's run across a few pitchers Hartley's size — but the number is small.
“We don’t get many this tall, but I’ve had one about Lyric's height, about his height — maybe a half inch or shorter,” Broom said. “Lyric may be the tallest, but there’s a couple of others right there with him.”
Hartley’s height and connection with older teammates give the senior captain a unique approach to leadership. The things he’s experienced could make some reserved or nervous to make new connections, fearing they could be as cruel as others.
But that’s not Hartley’s approach to his senior season.
He remembers how his older teammates guided him through the early rough patches of his career.
Hartley's tall shadow now protects the freshmen who look up to him.
“I love playing here,” Hartley said. “All the forms that I’ve made and relationships with people, teammates, and past teammates I still talk to and hang out with. Now, being a senior with freshmen coming in, it’s a lot different. I see them and think about when I was a freshman and all the seniors there. So I try to be a good influence and be friendly with all the freshmen.”
This article originally appeared on Ocala Star-Banner: Lake Weir baseball's 6-foot-8 pitcher Lyric Hartley standing tall in senior season
Continue reading...
