Tyler and Ryan Warren

By Allen Etzler
Published in Sports on May 13, 2014 1:48 PM

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Eastern Wayne catcher Ryan Warren still looks up to his older brother, senior Tyler Warren.

In a manner of speaking.

A 6-foot-2 inch sophomore, Ryan is taller than Tyler, who will say Ryan is stronger and probably better at baseball than he was at that age. Nonetheless, the two share an unbreakable bond on and off the field.

"Ever since I was young, I looked up Tyler and tried to do what he does," Ryan said. "I just always wanted to be like Tyler because I saw all the things that he did well."

Now they both do a lot of things well.

On the field, Tyler and Ryan make for a solid duo when Tyler is on the mound and Ryan is behind the plate. There is no one Tyler would rather throw to during a game.

"When he's back there it's a good feeling," Tyler said. "I'm with him every day. I'm driving him home. He knows me."

Tyler has pitched his way to a 2.89 earned run average (ERA) this season in more than 31 innings. He has three wins -- all complete games -- and has held opposing teams to a .204 batting average.

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The team calls them "Warren and Little Warren."

And the brother combination came to fruition during Little League. The coaches always seemed to put Ryan behind the plate, a position he detested.

During one game, when the coach ran out of pitching, he put Tyler on the mound. The connection worked so well together the coaches never wanted to break it.

Ryan knew when Tyler had his 'A' game and when he didn't. And he never hesitated to share with him how to adjust his pitching during a game.

Tyler grew into a leader who showed Ryan, and the rest of the underclassmen, what it takes to succeed at the high school varsity level.

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Don't think there isn't any competition, though.

Ryan and Tyler push each other to do their best. When Ryan hits a ball deep in the gap or off of the fence, the lankier Tyler attempts to do the same.

"You can definitely tell that they have a spunk together," teammate Ryan Kelly said. "And whenever they see the other doing well they want to try and one-up that."

No matter how much better Ryan strives to be than Tyler, he admits he's always wanted to be as good as him in one aspect of the game that he's never been as good at.

"I've always wanted to pitch like him," Ryan said. "But that wasn't going to work. All I could was throw hard. I'm still trying to be like him."