CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The London Pirate seniors have a chance to leave their mark in Coastal Bend baseball history. A group that has advanced to the UIL 3A state tournament the past three seasons. For one starting pitcher it's family that motivates him on and off the field.
"They set the standards high my freshman year knowing hey this is where we need to go, this is where we need to be and this is how we need to be as a team," Blayne Lyne, London senior starting pitcher, said.
This is the final ride for London's senior class, including Lyne. After this season Lyne's story will continue at Texas A&M University, the same school where his grandfather Rufus pitched.
"He always knew baseball, so he talked to me about it very easily and we always had a good bond with each other," Lyne said.
"We had his no-hitter balls and everything he did," Crystal Lyne, Blayne's mother said. "Blayne just kind of ooh'd and awed over them, but he never really took on to baseball till later, and then it was like 'oh I pitch"?
Lyne officially played a full season on varsity his sophomore year, and since then he's dealt 238 strikeouts over 167 innings while only allowing 96 hits. Great stats, but it's his personality that the Pirates enjoy.
"A fun kid to coach and always be around," Kevin Carr, London baseball co-head coach, said. "You know, even when you're having a bad day when Blayne Lyne shows up to the field it just feels like everybody has a better time."
It has not always been bright days for Blayne. Back in 2018 his baseball grandfather passed away May 12 and then his father John October 8.
"He's been a very big part of our life and taught me a lot of things I need to know later in the future, so I mean just putting dad in my glove is a huge thing to me," Lyne said. "Just thinking about him every time I go out there and pitch and say I know he's got me this game."
Dad stitched on his glove is not the only way Lyne finds support on the mound.
"After we do the throw down pitch I typically put the cross and then his first initial in there in the mound," Lyne said. "Just knowing that he's on the mound there with me and very supportive of me."
John was also an athlete, but in college rodeo. He competed at Sam Houston State University.
"We have the W.W.J.D., what would John do? What would John do today," Crystal Lyne said. "Would he still be proud, and really just trying to encompass in everything that we do."
John would want Blayne to have fun, and to give it his all helping London have the best chance to make it back to state.
"His friends have been great," Crystal Lyne said. "Blayne wouldn't be who he was without this team."
"They're always going to have my back," Lyne said. "I feel no pressure going out there on the mound, so every time I go out there I'm nice and relaxed and just up there to throw strikes and get outs for my team."
London will host Santa Rosa for a UIL 3A Area Round playoff doubleheader on Wednesday starting at 5 p.m.
