Student-Athlete Spotlight | Tyler Disch
Pitcher aims to help Yaks take East Region
When Tyler Disch ascends the mound to stare down an opposing batter, it’s the culmination of an intense amount of preparation.
Throughout the offseason, the Yaks pitcher structures everything around throwing harder and improving his placement.
“The game is kind of an escape from everything else,” Disch says, “but it also gives me a schedule to my week and to each day.”
The sophomore right-hander put his sights on throwing 95 miles per hour by the start of the 2024 season and, as of January, had reached 94 in the bullpen. But his routine grows even more intense the day before a game.
“It starts with a good meal the night before to make sure I’m fueled up the right way, ready to go,” he says. “And I’m in bed pretty early so I can get at least eight hours of sleep to make sure I’m mentally sharp and my body’s recovered.”
“I don’t think I’d be the player I would be now without the relationships with my teammates.” — Tyler Disch
He also focuses on his mental preparation, for example, by doing exercises to control his breathing. And both before going to bed and when he wakes up, Disch journals to put himself into the right state of mind to perform his best.
“It’s simple things, like affirmations, to help lock in mentally,” Disch says. “It’s all about controlling what you can control.”
For Disch, the goal is helping his team finish first this year in the Northwest Athletic Conference’s East Region and compete for the league championship.
“That’s a pretty big team goal for us to make sure we end the year with the dog pile in the NWAC,” he said.
Disch, who graduated from Mt. Si High School in Snoqualmie, first got on YVC’s radar the summer before his senior year shortly after he and one of his best friends and teammates, who had already committed to the Yaks, played together in Pacific Northwest Regional Baseball games for collegiate prospects. Kyle Krustangel, the Yaks head coach at the time, reached out to Disch and, about two weeks later, Disch committed.
“It was close to home so you kind of get your feet wet in college while still having the availability to go home when you need and then my best friend since I was young was going here so it was kind of a perfect combination,” Disch said.
With a successful 2024 season, Disch also hopes to continue his collegiate playing career. He’s slated to pitch for the Yakima Pippins this coming summer, and started talking to a couple Division I schools about the possibility of transferring, which is extra fuel as he works to refine his skills.
While playing at the professional level has been Disch’s ultimate goal since his t-ball days, he also is diligent in his studies, having achieved the President’s List twice with a quarterly grade point average of 3.85 or higher. Disch is working toward earning his business transfer degree from YVC so that he can pursue a bachelor’s degree in business or sports management.
“If [professional baseball] doesn’t work out, going into coaching at the collegiate or high school level and maybe hopefully end up as a pro coach would be great, but just keeping baseball in my life as long as I can,” he said.
As he enters his final season playing for the Yaks, Disch is thankful for the opportunity to learn from teammates, especially fellow pitchers Carson Judd and Jace Hanson.
“They kind of just coached me up and helped me find my way in the college game,” Disch said. “I’m hoping I can transfer that to some of the new freshmen this year who maybe need some guidance like I did.
“I don’t think I’d be the player I would be now without the relationships with my teammates. Sharing all of the memories from practices [and] what you do outside of school hanging out, everything that we do together, I know that’s something I’m going to hold on to.”
Story by Dustin Wunderlich, director of community relations. Photos by Ross Courtney.
