MILLERSVILLE, Pa. — Millersville baseball is back after a 2-1 start in their season-opening tournament in Houston. The trip saw a win over nationally-ranked Central Missouri. In their third game, pitcher Alex Mykut took a perfect game into the sixth inning against St. Cloud State, ultimately leading to a 7-2 win.
"He was one of the best arms in the league on his way to getting drafted in 2021," recalled Millersville head coach John Shehan. "Coming off of Tommy John, he figured it out, so to speak, and figured it out again. We've been watching something special this past fall and obviously last weekend."
Mykut was a three-sport athlete at Huntingdon High School, which is part of what caught the Marauders' attention in the first place.
"I made a lot of friends in high school from sports and it taught me a lot of life lessons. In wrestling, I think the biggest thing is you're one-on-one out there and I relate that to the pitching mound. It's you and the hitter and you got to attack," said Mykut.
"He was a wrestler. He didn't have a lot of mileage on the arm. They had a great pitching staff at Huntingdon, so it provided him an opportunity to play other positions," added Shehan.
One of which was catcher, who has to have the best relationship with the umpire on the diamond.
"If you're back there, you have to be nice and generous with them and get to know them really well," said Mykut with a smile.
So when he's not in school and striking out opponents, the Huntingdon County native gets to continue his passion for high school athletics and maintain his relationships with officials by also working as a staff member with the PIAA.
"High school sports have been a part of my life for a long time. I can remember going to wrestling tournaments with my dad when I was 5, 6, and 7 years old. I want to continue that and provide for the next generation coming through," stated Mykut.
It's so important to him that he was almost ready to walk away from baseball.
"Whenever I came to school here, the main goal was to develop as a man and down the road to create a future for myself," said Mykut. "So there was an opportunity to stay involved with high school sports and I just felt that if it came down to the decision, I'd be willing to hang up the cleats."
"It made us a little nervous. You're going to lose one of your best arms going into the spring, but the PIAA made the perfect situation. He's able to continue and finish out his career and also get his feet wet and get started in the PIAA and athletic administration," said Shehan.
Right now, Mykut works to assign officials, so he knows all too well about the shortage, as well as their importance to the future of every high school sport.
"We have to work to recruit the younger people and get them out and try to get them involved with officiating," said Mykut.
Millersville will return to the road this weekend with a three-game series in North Carolina. Their home opener at Cooper Park will be on Saturday, March 2nd, with a doubleheader against Goldey-Beacom.