The Steamboat Pilot & Today

Steamboat Springs — When you grow up in Ski Town, USA, there are times when the idea of playing college baseball seems out of reach, but not for Steamboat Springs’ 14-year-old Tom Lyon.

“It’s more difficult,” Tom said, “but there is no reason I can’t get there.”

He’s been throwing since the first weekend of March, when he started practicing in the middle school gym with his father. Before the summer is over, he will play in more than 70 baseball games across the state.

But the games Tom is looking forward to the most will take place just down the road from his Steamboat Springs home during the second session of the Triple Crown World Series, July 28 to Aug. 3.

Tom will play in the 14-and-under division (with 90-foot base paths) with the top-rated Chaparral Baseball Club of Parker.

In an effort to raise his level of play, Tom typically travels to the Front Range in the summer to play with top clubs from the metropolitan areas. He started the season with the Fort Collins Blaze but switched to the Chaparral team a month ago after injuries led to a roster spot for the left-handed pitcher and outfielder.

“It’s not that common for us to take players from as far away as Steamboat,” Chaparral coach Scott McReynolds said. “But Tom’s dad was hoping to get him on a more competitive team, and we needed some replacement players due to injuries. We had played Tom’s team in the past, and we knew he could play. So we took him on.”

McReynolds says it hasn’t been easy for Tom, who must travel from Steamboat to practice with the team. Tom also spends most of his weekends away from home playing in tournaments. But McReynolds says the Steamboat player has talent and desire.

“I’m hoping to get on with a college team, and I want to be a starter,” Tom said.

He says his best opportunity to make it to that level is to leave Steamboat Springs in the summer and travel to the Front Range where there are more teams, more competition and more opportunities to be seen. Tom hopes to grab the attention of a top-level Connie Mack baseball team. There are only a handful of squads in the state that play at that level, and the players who make those teams usually get a look from college coaches.

“That’s the highest level of baseball in the state of Colorado,” Tom’s dad, Harvey, said. “If Tommy wants to play in college, that’s where he will get noticed.”

Because Tom is unable to attend every Chaparral practice, Harvey has stepped in to help out where he can.

It’s not uncommon for the pair to be out tossing the ball at 6:15 a.m. most weekdays so that Tom can make his dry land training commitments with the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club later in the morning. Following his off-season skiing training, Tom heads back to the field to work on his changeup, takes some batting practice or shags a few fly balls in the afternoon with his father. He also travels to Parker at least once a week to practice with his Chaparral teammates.

Coach McReynolds said that Tom’s playing time is impacted by the fact that he can’t make every practice. He says it’s hard to put the Steamboat player on the field in front of players who are at every practice. But Tom still earns his share of playing time, and McReynolds says he has been a strong addition to the team.

“This would be a different story if Tom was an infielder,” Harvey said. “He would need to be at every practice for that to work. But as an outfielder and a pitcher, he can miss a few practices and still make an impact.”

He’s played in the Triple Crown World Series with the Craig Cutthroats, Northwestern Colorado Storm and the Fort Collins Blaze. He also plays with the Steamboat Springs American Legion team when he can.

In addition, Tom is a top-level soccer player and in the winter competes as an Alpine ski racer. Last year, he earned a third-place finish at the Junior Olympic Championships.

Harvey says that to handle the demands on his son’s time, he divides the year up into three sports and makes sure that Tom gives priority to a sport based on the time of the year.

Winter belongs to skiing, late summer and the fall are dedicated to soccer and in the summer it’s baseball. Harvey says all the sports complement on another, so he thinks Tom can handle all three.

“He doesn’t have any time to hang out on the corner, but that’s the way we like it,” Harvey said.

— To reach John F. Russell call 871-4209 or e-mail jrussell@steamboatpilot.com