Step into coaching natural for Liberty’s Brenning
When Ty Brenning was growing up, it seemed he always was wearing sports equipment and had a ball in his hands. His father, Bob, was the football and baseball coach at Urbana High School and his mother, Pam, coached softball and volleyball.
“About the only thing I knew outside of going to school was being around a team and seeing how those teams went about playing the game,” Brenning said. “That was such a great way to grow up.”
Brenning coached his own team, Olentangy Liberty, to the Division I state baseball tournament and is being honored as The Dispatch All-Metro Coach of the Year.
Patriots pitcher Mitch Milheim and DeSales’ Joey Velazquez are co-players of the year. Milheim, a senior headed to Ohio State, went 9-0 with a 1.15 ERA and batted .305 in being voted district player of the year. Velazquez, a junior being recruited by the likes of Ohio State for baseball and Michigan for football, was Division II state player of the year for batting .545 with three home runs and 37 RBI and going 3-2 with a 2.92 ERA.
Brenning was influenced by his parents, his college coach at Xavier, John Morrey, former Olentangy coach Steve Little and Matt Lattig, his predecessor at Liberty. He has been with the Patriots 14 years, seven as head coach.
“I look to create a program where it feels like family for the players, and I also bring in my own family,” Brenning said. “We have fun, but we want to be intense and have high character. I look back at all those latenight coaches meetings and all those national and state clinics where you took notes and picked peoples’ brains.” The Dispatch All-Metro baseball team, front row, from left: Matt Magno (Dublin Scioto), Rob Cope (Dublin Jerome), Luke Dinan (Bloom-Carroll) and co-player of the year Mitch Milheim (Olentangy Liberty). Back row, from left: co-player of the year Joey Velazquez (DeSales), Caden Kaiser (Olentangy), Connor Gerren (Big Walnut), Ben Gbur (Hilliard Darby), A.J. Thomas (Pickerington Central), Nick Erwin (Grove City) and Luke Rawlins (Hartley). Not pictured: coach of the year Ty Brenning (Olentangy Liberty). Olentangy Liberty coach Ty Brenning
Milheim is so driven that Brenning says he knows three languages, English, Spanish and engineering. He will major in engineering. His parents say honors don’t drive him.
“Honors are a privilege, but I think it’s harmful to go through a season if you are aiming at them,” he said. “The season is the priority. In general in baseball, I try to compare myself to the best. You have to realize how much better you have to get and how much farther you have to go.”
DeSales baseball coach Tom Neubert calls Velazquez “a once in a lifetime player.” But will it be baseball or football in college?
“I’m just trying to figure out the possibilities and what’s best for me,” Velazquez said. “I have to balance my time as much as possible. It’s all about time management on and off the field. You communicate with your coaches. I’ve talked with college coaches about playing both. That would be my dream coming true. That would be awesome. I love both equally.”