Tribute to Tyler Williams: Once a Bear, always a Bear
0Written by Scottie Whitaker
The UPIKE Bears’ baseball season is right around the corner again, but this is no ordinary season for the Bears. Just before UPIKE released for winter break, Tyler Williams and Bryce Carden, two of the Bears’ pitchers were in an ATV accident causing them both to be thrown out of the vehicle. Thankfully, fellow pitcher Jake Metzger was behind the two. Immediately after the accident, emergency help was called.
Carden said as he and Tyler were lying on their backs on the ground that day, they began to pray and talk to God.
Carden managed to make it through the wreck with a broken collarbone and a few cuts and bruises. But UPIKE’s other brother in the accident passed away a few days later on Dec. 14, 2014, at 21.
Williams was going to enter his junior season on the mound for the Bears. The entire Bears’ baseball team felt the shock of this event. Williams will not be forgotten though; the baseball team has dedicated its entire season to him.
“The day that Tyler died he said that he had rings for football, but that he wanted one for baseball. I feel like we need to honor those words for our angel, Tyler,” Carden said.
This is what the baseball team wants to accomplish this season. They will not only be playing for the pure satisfaction of winning and being a champion, but for a fallen brother’s dreams that they plan fulfilling.
“I feel like everyone on the team has become a bit closer and realized that it’s not always about themselves,” said Carden.
“There’s extra motivation for us to go out and compete to the best of our ability in order to honor him and the game he loved. Tyler was fierce a competitor every time he stepped on the mound. That fierce trait will be missed on the pitching staff. It pushes me to go out and have the same tenacity on the mound that he did because I know he is watching over me and the rest of the team,” said fellow UPIKE pitcher and Belfry alumnus Jared Masters.
“Tyler was a competitor; he always fought til the last second and that’s what’s going to push me to be better on and off the field. Not only did he take me in as a freshman, he was like a brother to me. Being away from home and not being able to leave, he and his family took me in as one of their own. And that’s what this team is. We are family. This has brought us closer as a team, and Tyler will always be in our hearts. Every time it gets rough, we just have to look back on Tyler. He never gave up, and as a team, we can never give up,” said Metzger.
UPIKE baseball head coach, Chad Gassman, also had some words of his own on the passing of Tyler. “We lost a dear family member, and we are trying to remember him the best that we can. The small gestures that we have planned will allowed us to always keep Tyler in our hearts and focus on the good memories we’ve shared with him. This will help us cope with the hard times,” Gassman said.
The team embroidering the number 14 onto the all of the baseball hats this year; 14 was the number that Williams wore on his jersey. Williams’ locker is also in the process of becoming a memorial to commemorate his life and it will remain unused and contain all of the good things that are associated with Tyler. Also on March 4, there will be a baseball game played at Belfry High School, which is where Williams went to high school. The Bears will play against West Virginia Tech on what will be called “Tyler Williams Night.”
Tyler Williams will always be a Bear, and he will never be forgotten. As he watches over the Bears this baseball season, everything that they do will be in memory of him. Please, don’t ever take your teammates or friends and family for granted. Cherish every second that you get with them and treat them kindly.
UPIKE had a memorial service for Williams in Booth Auditorium. Williams’ family appeared there along with the baseball team and students and staff of UPIKE paying their respects to his family.