Tyler Wytulka, who plays baseball for Eastern Arizona College, is in his sophomore year and has been mainly a designated hitter. Wytulka, who plays left field, first base and pitches, can do everything, but as of lately, he’s been mostly hitting. A few weeks ago, on Feb. 28, he was named Player of the Week in his conference, the Arizona Community College Athletic Conference (ACCAC).
The lefty — he pitches and bats with his left hand — had played eight to 10 games before having a really good stretch that got him the recent honors. His school was playing Western Arizona College, and though he didn’t play the first game, in the second game we went 4-4, had a double, three singles and got hit by pitch. He had five at-bats that game.
Later that week, his school played South Mountain Community College. In the first game, he went 1-3 with a single. In the second game, he was 1-3 but got a home run.
“I think I might have gotten walked twice that game,” Wytulka told the Forum on Sunday. “I had five at-bats the second game too.”
That’s when the ACCAC named him Player of the Week, an award that coaches in the conference vote on after they’ve seen the guys play all week and come to a consensus.
While he knew about the award, he didn’t know he’d won it — that is until his father, West End Public Schools District Superintendent Clint Wytulka, texted him and let him know.
“Seeing that I got it was cool,” he said.
Eastern Arizona is on spring break right now and will continue regular season play through April 30. The top four teams in the conference will move on to play in a final tournament. Wytulka said it depends on the school’s record and how well they’ve done throughout the season.
The winner will move on to a regional tournament against teams in Utah, Nevada and Idaho. From there, those that advance head to Grand Junction for a world series tournament.
Wytulka is working on a forestry degree currently, but is aiming for a bachelor’s degree in biology when he transfers next year. While he’s not sure where he’s going yet, he’d like to attend a bigger university and keep playing baseball. He’s talked to a few coaches and plans to make his decision by summer.
He said playing for the Gila Monsters in Thatcher, Arizona has been a good experience.
“I really do like it here,” he said, adding that the group of guys he plays with is good, and he likes the coaches.
He said while he’s in Arizona, he’s in a milder climate — not 120 degrees, like Phoenix — and there are some mountains around.
He said when left for college, he knew what he was getting into, but there was also a big learning curve with getting started at Eastern Arizona last year. He said after a few weeks, he settled in and has been fine ever since. He admitted being a collegiate athlete is definitely a lot harder than high school athletics and academics were. He said taking some college classes while at Nucla High School helped prepare him for what it would be like. Still, he added taking biology and chemistry in the same semester during his freshmen year was a bit challenging.
In the future, he hopes to work for U.S. Fish and Game for his career.
