Most rising freshmen don’t even know what they want to be when they grow up, but Morgan County’s Ty Tillery seems to have things figured out.
Not only has the 14-year-old, right-handed pitching prospect just finished his middle-school baseball career, he’s already received college interest and come to a decision on where to play at the next level.
After acquiring interest from programs such as Auburn, Louisiana State and Georgia, Tillery chose the hometown Bulldogs in his verbal commitment.
Ty’s father, Danny Tillery, referred to the whole situation as a “blessing”.
“[Coach Scott Strickland] offered Ty a scholarship which was obviously a blessing,” Tillery said. “And a dream come true for a kid that has grown up 40 miles from Athens. It’s his dream school.”
According to Prep Baseball Report, the 6-foot-2, 165-pound Tillery has “broad shoulders with quick twitch fibers,” which helps with his performance on the mound.
Tillery’s fastball is constantly in the mid-80s, having topped out at around 88 miles per hour. Couple that with a sweeping slider that’s thrown in the mid-to-low 70s, and he’s a tough pitcher to face.
As an eighth-grader, Tillery played for the Morgan County junior varsity squad. He recorded 45 strikeouts and only five walks in 28 and 2/3s innings.
His father attributes some of that success to Tillery’s maturity on the mound.
“He’s very mature and poised when he’s on the mound,” Tilley said. “He’s always confident, and he’s been that way since nine years old.”
Tillery also performs well in the batter’s box. In his time at the plate last season for Morgan County, he had a .370 batting average with a .420 on-base percentage.
Moving forward, Danny believes Ty will need to develop more, physically if he wants to excel in the Southeastern Conference.
“He’s going to have to get stronger and continue to build the mental aspect of his game,” Danny said. “At 14 years old, he’s nowhere near fully grown, so he’s going to have to continue to stay on the weights and get stronger.”
Fortunately for Tillery, he will have his whole high-school career to bolster his physicality.
On top of playing for the Bulldogs, Tillery also competes with the Canes National team. The organization is composed of some of the best 14U players from around the country and plays in high-profile tournaments.
Most recently, Tillery and the Canes National team placed first in the Team USA Nationals tournament, which featured the top-16 teams in the country.
According to Perfect Game, Tillery will head into next season ranked as the top right-handed pitcher in the state of Georgia and 12th nationally.
Ultimately, Ty Tillery controls his own destiny and will look to continue to bolster his resume come springtime.