Tyler Minick-Gov. Mifflin

To say Tyler Minick is a little busy during the school year would be quite an understatement. He was a WR/DB on a Gov. Mifflin football team that went (10-1) and won the Section 1 championship in the Berks Football League. Minick returned a kickoff 75 yards for a touchdown at Exeter. The 6’ junior was a starting guard for the Mustangs during basketball season. He scored a career-high 20 points against the Eagles in early January. However, the spring is when Minick shines the brightest. The UConn commit was an all-county selection as a sophomore when he hit .376 with 21 RBI and an OPS of 1.069. The middle infielder led Gov. Mifflin with 28 runs, 20 stolen bases, and four triples. He ripped seven doubles; none bigger than the one that cleared the bases in the second inning of the Berks County championship at FirstEnergy Stadium. The Mustangs defeated rival Wilson 5-4 for their 14th county title. They upset top-seeded Manheim Township and #4 seed Warwick in the District 3-6A playoffs before falling to Wilson 11-0 in the District 3 Final. Minick participated in the Big 26 Classic last summer. He does all of this while maintaining a 3.5 GPA and taking honors classes. Minick explained how football and basketball help him on the baseball field. He encourages young athletes to play as many sports as possible. We talked about why he committed early to UConn and how far he had the Huskies going in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. Gov. Mifflin lost 13 seniors from the group that went (21-7, 10-2) a season ago. Berks County Player of the Year Connor Maryniak is at Misericordia. Maryniak (13-0, 1.13) struck out a school-record 147 hitters over 93 innings while batting .393 with 31 RBI, 9 doubles, and 4 home runs. Matt Gehris (DeSales) and Aaron Renninger were both all-division picks. Minick knows that he has to be more of a leader this season. He believes the Mustangs remain one of the top teams in the county. The righty was limited to 21.1 innings last year due to arm trouble. Minick (2-1, 0.98) finished with 21 strikeouts. He told me that his arm feels much better now. I asked him to rank his pitches. Minick really likes his changeup. Xander Velez and Darien Troche are part of the junior class, along with Minick. Troche came up clutch in the postseason. The catcher had an RBI single in a 1-0 victory over Brandywine Heights in the BCIAA quarterfinals. That was Gov. Mifflin’s only hit of the game. Troche delivered a 2-out, RBI single in the 8th inning to beat Muhlenberg 5-4 in the semifinals. Velez will see a lot more time on the mound in 2022. His fastball is near 90 mph. Mason Woolwine returns in centerfield. The 6’3 senior was a starting forward on the basketball squad. The Mustangs will also have some freshman in the mix. Finally, we joked about Minick’s new haircut which could result in a few more stolen bases.