Tyler Lancaster still positive after season ending injury

SPARTANBURG, SC- 

During a mid-week scrimmage the week before the Pioneers started their regular season, the starting catcher for SMC was down for the count. "I was starting to warm up and hit the ball again coming back from Christmas break. I was getting good reps with my pitchers, started hitting the ball hard and throwing people out" Lancaster said. It was shortly after this when he knew something wasn't right. "I was catching and felt a pop on the outside of my knee" he said. After finishing the rest of the scrimmage, he assumed it was a minor injury that he could work through. The next morning at 5:30am when it was time for early morning workouts, Lancaster stated "I about collapsed in my dorm floor because I couldn't put any weight on it."

After having the situation assessed, he was diagnosed with a tear in his meniscus (knee). He will be out 3-4 months but plans to start playing again in late June with the Blowfish (a summer team in the coastal plain league.) "This is just a minor setback for a major comeback" Lancaster said. The 6'4 193lb. sophomore from Dutch Fork High School earned his playing time last season playing in forty of their sixty six total games. Lancaster helped lead SMC to their third consecutive World Series appearance where he started every game of the tournament in Grand Junction, Colorado. While he was obviously an above average player, this fall showed that improvement was possible. Lancaster posted a .441 batting average, .513 on base percentage, and ten of his fifteen hits were for extra bases, two of which were home runs.

The word was out that SMC's sophomore catcher was supposed to be drafted this summer, but his chances have been cut down a little. With that said, Lancaster feels confident stating "…but there still is a chance that I could (be drafted) depending on who drafts me and if they saw me play recently or not. I could possibly still be drafted this year."

Last season for the Pioneers, Lancaster posted a .302 BA hitting 3 long balls with 16 RBI and a .425 OBP. The freshman catcher went down on strikes only 16 times (11%) through the season. He also finished the year with a .962 FP, throwing out 22% of base stealers. Tyler Lancaster will be missed this season but this program knows how to reload and fill in the gaps.

Tyler says that he plans on supporting the team in the dugout at home games this year. I think it is safe to say this young man has his head on straight and will not let a set back like this overcome his baseball career.

I am a freshman student at SMC. Graduated from Saluda High School where I played baseball. I love sports and I have a passion for stats and watching athletes on a high level. I love to write and plan to be a sports analyst/writer for my career. While I am in school, I am doing everything I can to gain experience and learn from others. I plan to do an article for every game of the 2015 baseball season. Please stay tuned with our social media pages Twitter: @gosmcbaseball, Instagram: @SMCpioneerBaseball Facebook: SMC Baseball and Pioneer Athletics at Spartanburg Methodist College, Website: www.gosmcpioneers.com for links to more articles. If you have any ideas or specific stories that you would like me to do a write up on, please email me at alexprogers6@yahoo.com or text/call at (864)-993-1493. I am willing to work with anyone, and love being helped/critiqued. Thank you again for viewing. GO PIONEERS!