Former Pirates star adjusts to life as a Knight

Who said you can’t go home? Sometimes, it’s just hard to go home when you are wearing enemy colors.Former Garaway great Tyler Renner, who helped lead the Pirates to State in basketball, and then pitched well enough for the Garaway baseball team to earn a scholarship to pitch for the University of Akron Zips, was coaching from the visitors dugout on Saturday, April 24, when he brought the West Holmes JV baseball team for a twin bill against the Pirates.“It’s been really good so far. I love it here at West Holmes,” Renner said. “It feels like that’s where I belong. It’s somewhere I think I’ll enjoy being at in the future as well.”Life as a Knight may be good for Renner, but he admits it was a little strange preparing to play against his old school.“It feels really strange,” Renner said. “I still live in Sugarcreek, and when I ask people around town how we did, I’m asking about the Pirates. But when I’m talking to my guys at West Holmes, talking about our teams, it’s different. It’s a little weird.”After his stellar career at Garaway, where he starred in both basketball and baseball, Renner went to the University of Akron to play baseball. He transferred to Malone where he played basketball and earned his degree in education.Renner taught at Lake Center Christian School last year before joining the staff at West Holmes High School this school year, teaching Ohio history and U.S. history. He served as coach of the Knights Junior Varsity basketball team and is the coach of the Knights JV baseball team as well.“I never pictured myself not playing,” Renner said. “After I played my last game, I wanted to stay around the game. I loved being around baseball and I love being around basketball. This is my way to do it and keep active in it. I also love to teach, and anything I can pass along to these guys to help them in baseball, basketball or in the classroom, I’m happy to do it.”Nathan Hoxworth, a member of the West Holmes JV baseball team, said he likes playing for Renner.“He’s a good coach who seems to know what he’s talking about. He makes playing baseball fun,” Hoxworth said.Renner hopes to avoid a faux pas a fellow first-year coach ran into at West Holmes, where, when the team broke the huddle, the coach encouraged the Knights team with “one, two, three, Huskies.”“Luckily, one of the things I used to say when I was at Garaway was Go Blue. I can still say Go Blue because West Holmes has the same colors,” Renner said. “It’s not that hard to mess it up.”Renner said it was hard giving up his playing career, but feels he has made the right choice for his life.“At first, giving up playing was tough,” he said. “Last year, I had a few opportunities to play overseas, but I decided my best future is right here. A couple times, I second guessed myself. The first couple weeks of basketball practice, when I was helping coach, it was tough seeing guys out playing and having fun. But at the same time, it was fun to see them grow as players. It took me about a week to finally adjust to being a coach and not a player.” “Tyler was an exceptional kid and a phenomenal basketball talent,” former Garaway boys basketball coach Scott Bardall said. “But for all his talent, he was the most humble and decent kid you’d ever want to meet; a reflection of his parents.“The time I had with him, I’ll always cherish,” Bardall continued. “He was such a pleasure to be around.”Bardall believes Renner will be an exceptional coach, but the biggest challenge he’ll face is understanding why kids don’t work as hard as he did.“Finding a way to motivate kids and reach them is always a challenge for every coach,” Bardall said. “Tyler was intrinsically motivated. I never had to push his buttons.”