NORFOLK, VA (WTKR) — At the bottom of his biography on Old Dominion's athletic website, Monarch baseball's Tyler Wheeler put three words next to why he chose to play at ODU.
"Brother plays there."
"Does it really? I don't even remember putting that there," Tyler said with a laugh. "But it is a dream come true to play with him again."
Tyler joined his twin brother, outfielder Thomas, on the Monarch baseball team this season. Both are seniors using their fifth years of eligibility they were given because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
A catcher, Tyler spent a year at Tacoma Community college along with Thomas before going to Olivet Nazarene University, an NAIA school. After two seasons with the Tigers, Old Dominion began recruiting him.
"I came here and I always wanted to play Division I baseball, so let's do it. Let's make it happen," he remembered.
It certainly helped that Thomas had already spent two seasons playing for ODU. The last time the two had played together was in 2019.
"I told him, 'I want you to play here,'" Thomas said. "Then (former assistant Logan Robbins) talked to me last year and said we needed another catcher and I was like, 'Bring him over here. I want him over here.'"
His hunch to bring his brother to Norfolk is showing to be a good one. Tyler is hitting .419 in 31 plate appearances and eight runs batted in. Playing in all 20 games, Thomas has a .355 batting average, has hit three homes runs, and driven in 17 runs.
Head coach Chris Finwood has also noticed a trend with the Wheeler twins.
"Almost every hit Tyler has gotten, Thomas has been on base," he said. "It's uncanny, that stat."
What's more important to them, though, is that they are getting that one last chance to play together. The Wheelers are far from their Tacoma home, but the distance traveled worth it to have a storybook ending.
"We talk about it all the time," Thomas said. "No matter what happens or how we do as a team, let's just have fun. It's our last year, you've got to make the best of it."
"It brings tears to your eyes, but at the same time we've had such a good time together," Tyler said. "What is there to cry about? What is there to be sad about? There's nothing. We've made it."
