Houston County’s Tyson Ganas embracing full-time starter role, young pitcher joins rotation

Houston County had a big void on the mound left by graduation, but Tyson Ganas is ready to answer the call.

Ganas opened the Bears’ 15-0 win against Warner Robins for his first (official) game on the mound since HoCo’s championship loss to Newnan nine months ago.

His inaugural pitch was a fast ball in the strike zone with a bit more zip than you might’ve seen last season, and he followed it with a change-up for another strike.

Ganas ended his two innings on the mound with five strikeouts, including a squeaky clean first with three-up-three-down.

“It’s what we talk about all the time in our program, if you want to be consistent, the guys that were role players or backup guys, and he was more of a role player than a backup guy last year, they’ve got to step up and be the main guy,” HoCo head coach Matt Hopkins said. “I think he’s really embraced that, and he’s worked hard to improve his skill of being able to throw the ball. A little firmer, more consistently, and just getting that pitch count up and be able to be more of a front-end guy for us. We’re gonna rely on him big.”

One of Ganas’ shortcomings last season was his ability to consistently hit the strike zone. When he only had to come in and pitch a couple of innings it didn’t often become a problem — he was actually lightning in a bottle more than once.

But with him being asked to pitch (hopefully) five or more innings every start, it was one thing he addressed in the offseason.

“[Hopkins has] really just asked me to throw a bunch of strikes, because that’s probably the main thing I struggled with last year,” Ganas said. “Especially early in the count, first-pitch strikes, just getting that down.”

He’s also worked on strengthening not just his best pitches, but also his body to help him better deliver them.

“I’ve been working on my change-up a lot, and my fastball,” Ganas said. “I feel like those are my two greatest pitches. I’ve also been working in the gym, getting stronger and using my legs more.”

A new name has also entered the fray, one Hopkins thinks he could lean on despite the youth and inexperience.

“The sky’s the limit for him,” Hopkins said of Ja’hkai Wilson, who made his Bears debut against Warner Robins.

Wilson threw one inning and earned two strikeouts while preserving the no-hitter Ganas started.

“He’s working his way into it, that’s for sure. We’re going to try him in that [starter] role, and we’re going to let him grow because his stuff, you can’t teach it,” Hopkins said. “It’s just very natural, plus left-handed stuff, it’s just going to continue to get better. I can’t wait to see what he becomes.”

At 14-years-old you can only expect so much from an athlete, especially a pitcher when it comes to velocity, but Wilson already has a promising arsenal.

“Loaded mid-80s fastball with a really good change-up and a wipeout slider,” Hopkins said. “It is legitimate variety-level stuff that’s ahead of his age. Now it’s just about getting him consistent enough to be able to throw it all the time. The stuff’s there, it’s just we got to keep reminding ourselves that he’s just a baby.”

“He’s only 14 years old and he’s just going to continue to improve and we got to be patient with him.”