By Chris McCarthy/Editor
Tyler Self’s prowess on the baseball field and in the classroom has propelled him to the Rocket City.
Last Wednesday (Dec. 7), the Westbrook Christian senior signed a baseball scholarship with the University of Alabama at Huntsville.
In 67 innings on the mound this past season, Self went 11-1 with 72 strikeouts and a 1.50 earned run average while helping the Warriors go 26-12, finish the regular season as the ninth-ranked team in Class 2A and make it to the state semifinals. He was a first-team selection for the ASWA All-State and All-Messenger teams and competed in the Alabama Baseball Coaches Association Showcase in May.
Self, who also plays basketball at Westbrook, is a four-year starter who also played as an eighth grader.
“I’ve been working towards this my whole life, so today is pretty special,” said Self, who plans on studying kinesiology at UAH. “I thought it might never come true. It’s very exciting and hard to describe in words. I’ve grown up in a good baseball program and I was looking to go to a good college baseball program, so I think it’s a good fit.”
Self noted that he and his Warrior baseball teammates kicked off their off-season workouts the day after their semifnal series loss to Madison Academy in May.
“We look back at that day and we didn’t want something like that to happen again. We’ve talked about how we’re going to take it up a level this year and go forward.”
Self joins a Charger program that went 33-20 and 21-12 in the Gulf South Conference last season. It was the fifth straight year that UAH recorded at least 30 wins.
“Tyler’s been one of our main three starters since his freshman year, and we’ve had a lot of success during that time,” said Westbrook baseball coach Matt Kennedy. “He’s been the No. 1 pitcher on our staff last year and will be again this year, so we have high expectations for him. It’s been a blessing to coach Tyler and watch him mature and grow both as a player and a person. I’m excited about the opportunities he’ll have at UAH.”