THE GRIND, Presented by Bank of Clarendon: Swinging for the Show: East Clarendon's Odom setting a high standard on the diamond

Many kids who pick up a baseball growing up have dreams of making it to the Major Leagues.

For most, that dream quickly fall by the wayside.

Kyler Odom has no plans on letting that dream die.

The left-handed pitcher and first baseman from East Clarendon is finishing up his last spring with the Wolverines before heading to North Greenville in the fall. All the while, his eyes are set on a bigger prize that will hopefully come to fruition several years down the road.

"That's one of the main reasons I went to North Greenville," he said. "They have a coach that's played in the Major Leagues, and I feel like that's what can help me get to the next level. He knows what it's like to be a Major League Baseball player, and he knows what it takes to get there. That's the best way for me to further myself."

Kyler's big-league dreams started to crystalize at a young age. At the age of 10, he had the chance to play for former MLB second baseman Orlando Hudson. Hudson had a decade long Major League career, which was spent primarily with the Toronto Blue Jays and Arizona Diamondbacks.

The two-time All-Star eventually came back to his home city of Darlington to form Team Elite, which eventually became the Swingmen. Kyler played for Hudson for three years before the four-time Gold Glove winner took a job with the Diamondbacks in player development.

"He always taught us to do the little things the right way and the big things will come. I've always stuck to that my whole life," Kyler said. "He always held us up to a high standard. No one person was better than another. He always taught us to do the right things no matter who was watching. He always talked about how in the Major Leagues, they had to put the work in themselves. It's a lifestyle for them. He really taught me what it was like to really jump ahead."

Having a Major League player as a coach during formative years helped show Kyler there is a path for players like him with their sights set on the show. Since then, three left-handed pitchers from Sumter made the leap in Jordan Montgomery, JP Sears and Charlie Barnes.

Kyler hopes to be the next tri-county player to follow in their footsteps.

"It shows that no matter where you're from, everybody's journey is different," Kyler said. "If you put in the hard work and do what you're supposed to, then the good things will come out of it."

BASEBALL IN TURBEVILLE

Kyler grew up in what he considers a great baseball environment. He picked up the sport as soon as he could pick up a baseball and played with the same group of eventual Wolverines since his first days in rec ball. Over the years, Kyler has played on different travel ball and showcase teams, but he's always come back and spent his spring with the Wolverines.

"I've been playing rec ball with these boys since forever. We've known each other our whole lives, and we've made friendships we'll always remember," Kyler said. "We pick each other up during the games. It's great to have friends that I've known forever."

Kyler writes with his right hand but plays every sport with his left. As a result, he was built to play first base and pitch. He developed a love for the mound at a young age, mirroring professional pitchers he watched on TV like Clayton Kershaw.

The southpaw got his first taste of varsity action at East Clarendon when he was still in middle school. As a seventh-grader, Kyler was called up to play in a preseason tournament. He earned his first varsity hit and pitching appearance in the process. He spent the regular season at the JV level before getting called up for the playoffs. He was permanently promoted to varsity as an eighth-grader.

"It gave me a push to try to do better than them," Kyler said. "I went for the starting position (at first base), and it forced me to try to beat them out. They also helped me become who I am because they taught me a lot of things."

TRYING TO GET COLLEGE ATTENTION

Kyler started to develop into a star player for the Wolverines, but he wasn't catching the eyes of college coaches. When his sophomore season was canceled due to COVID-19, he knew he needed to find a way to get in front of college coaches.

Enter showcase baseball.

Showcase teams are a little different from travel ball. Kyler sees travel ball as offseason practice for his high school season. Showcase ball does exactly what the name implies, it allows players to showcase their talent directly to college coaches.

"I've always had the goal to play college baseball. I wanted to get seen by college coaches and possibly play at the next level," Kyler said. "I kinda knew about showcase baseball, and I had some coaches reach out to me, so I just wanted to get my name out there to get seen by college coaches."

In that first summer, Kyler got the attention of Florence-Darlington Technical College, his first offer. More offers started to come in throughout the summer and into his junior season.

He continued to play showcase this past summer and finally caught the attention of his eventual landing spot while playing in the Palmetto Games at Riley Park.

"It was kind of a rollercoaster for me," Kyler said. "I got invited to play in the Palmetto Games, and that's when North Greenville saw me. Coach (Landon) Powell called me and said they liked me and wanted me to come for a visit. I really loved it up there, and that's when I made my decision."

DEVELOPING INTO 1A'S TOP PLAYER

Kyler said the 2020 summer spent playing showcase ball alongside a season with the Sumter Flyers helped him take a major leap in talent level. That showed on the field during his junior season in 2021.

On the mound, Kyler was unhittable. He finished the year with a 1.11 ERA over 48 2/3 innings. He struck out 83 batters and walked just eight.

He was even more impressive at the plate.

Across 98 plate appearances, throughout the entire spring, he never struck out.

Kyler hit a staggering .542 with 29 RBIs, 24 runs scored and walked 25 times. He had 16 extra base hits and swiped seven bases.

Despite those stats, Kyler wasn't worried about the numbers. He was just happy to be on the field after missing his sophomore season.

"We had so much fun competing last year," Kyler said.

Kyler may not have paid close attention to his stats, but the SCHSL 1A coaches did. He was voted 1A Co-Player of the Year, splitting the honor with Whitmore's Casey Stevens. The award wasn't even on his radar until head coach Will McMillan sent him a text to let the first baseman know he'd won it.

FINDING THE TIME

It takes a lot of hard work to succeed at two key positions on the field. Kyler works year-round to hone his craft.

"A lot of time was taken up by playing baseball. If that's your goal in life, that's really what you have to do," Kyler said.

He prides himself in succeeding at the dish and on the mound. That's continued this spring. He's hitting .385 on the season and is among the team leaders in RBIs and runs scored. His runs allowed are in the single digits yet again as his ERA sits at 1.30.

To be sharp on the mound and at the plate, Kyler makes sure to dedicate equal practice time to pitching and hitting.

"When I go to the batting cage, I try to do equal amounts of both," Kyler said. "Maybe I'll hit 100 balls in the cage one day and I'll throw a bullpen of 25 pitches. The next day, I'll hit another 100 balls and long toss the next day."

Kyler added another wrinkle this fall. He's played football throughout his high school career but earned the job as starting quarterback during his senior season.

He was determined to work on his baseball skills, even with as demanding a job as the Wolverines' starting signal caller.

"With playing football, I treated it as practice for baseball. Playing quarterback, I'd throw 100 balls a day and I'd treat that as maybe a bullpen or long toss for baseball. I wasn't taking time off baseball; I was training during football. I would go to the cage to get some hits in because I was throwing everyday with football," he said.

Most of Kyler's teammates on the baseball team also played football, so he always had some willing partners to make a trip to the batting cages after practice.

Kyler said having the opportunity to continue playing the sport he loves makes it worth every second.

"I just think of baseball as having fun and playing the game," Kyler said. "You have your ups and downs. Just coming and playing baseball is what it's all about, having fun."