Assistant Manager Inspires Dunedin High Baseball Team

Author: Merissa Lynn, FOX 13 News

Published On: 05/02/2019

Tyler, or "Tyno" as he's known around Dunedin High School, is an assistant manager for the Dunedin Falcons. He was born with neurofibromatosis, a genetic disorder that causes tumors to form on nerve tissue. Last month, he underwent surgery for a brain tumor. 

"Where it's located at is in the middle of the brain, connected to the brain stem," said James Nolan, Tyler's father. "Worst possible place you could ever have one." 

Weeks after the surgery, he returned to the field, and for the next 18 months, Tyno will get chemotherapy treatments to shrink and hopefully kill off the rest of the tumor. In the meantime, he'll be on the field, where he feels most at home.

"They're like my brothers, so they treat me like a brother," Tyler said. 

"It's the kind of thing, we treat him as one of us," said senior shortstop Ray Sass. "He's a brother to us. He's out here yelling at us, getting us fired up, giving us pregame speeches. He's just kind of our go-to guy in the dugout." 

Tyno's story has resonated with the team and the Dunedin community. Head coach Ron Sexton even had "Tyno-mite" shirts made for everyone on the team.

"People ask me all the time because Tyno's been so popular, 'Is Tyno on your team?' No, he's not. He is our team," Sexton explained.

When he takes the field, Tyler's only focus is baseball. 

Read more here.