Kent St. catcher Lyon key to team’s success

He has kept pitchers settled and made plays

By Elton Alexander

Cleveland Plain Dealer

CLEVELAND

Kent State associate head coach Mike Birkbeck said one of the first things he did, after celebrating the Golden Flashes’ trip to Omaha, Neb., for the College World Series, was to make a phone call.

“I called the scout that drafted him, and told him, ‘David Lyon is going to make you look like a genius,’’’ Birkbeck said.

Lyon, from Emporium, Pa., was taken by Texas in the 34th round, 1,056th overall in the recent baseball draft. But right now the KSU catcher is showing off his talents in a big way. Kent State opens play in the College World Series Saturday at 5 p.m. against Arkansas.

“It’s been amazing,” Lyon said from Omaha, where Kent has been soaking in the atmosphere before its first game. “Honestly, we want to win, but it is great to be here. It’s kind of surreal, just amazing.”

Amazing is a word also can describe the 5-foot-11, 205-pound senior. He is both the calming force for a strong pitching staff, and the source of some of the fantastic defensive plays Kent State has made throughout its tournament run against Kentucky, Purdue and Oregon.

He has a 3.69 grade-point average in finance, but the catcher’s tools of ignorance have been his forte since he was 10 years old.

“I just love being in the game, every pitch,” Lyon said. “I don’t think I could play any other position. I like thinking about all the sequences, pitching to each hitter. I like controlling the game, having the tempo at my fingertips.”

It is not uncommon to see Lyon step out from behind the plate in critical situations, talk to his pitcher, signal the number of outs to his teammates, then spread his arms in a “calm down” motion before going back behind the plate.

“David has been very fortunate, because Coach [Scott] Stricklin is a tremendous developer of catchers,” said Birkbeck, who pitched for the Milwaukee Brewers. “I could very easily have thrown to David Lyon when I was pitching. There is no doubt in my mind.

“He’s definitely a field general. He’s not a big talker. He’s not a non-stop, chat-chat-chat guy. So when he speaks, our guys pay very, very close attention. I love how he handles our pitchers, because every single one of those guys is different, and he has a real good feel with each and every one of them. That’s very comforting for us as coaches.”

It is rare in the college game for a catcher to call pitches, but Lyon has been doing it most of the last two seasons. With Stricklin being a former catcher at Kent and the minor leagues, plus Birkbeck’s major-league experience, there is a lot a catcher can learn in practice.

“I’ve pushed him, and he’s pushed back,” Stricklin said of coaching Lyon. “But we are closer now than we have ever been. He’s the best defensive catcher I’ve ever coached.”