Bob Lutz: Sedgwick’s Brylie Ware puts the ball in play

Brylie Ware had 36 hits in 51 at-bats for the Sedgwick Cardinals’ baseball team last spring.

“I batted .706,” he said. He’s probably said that a few times in the past several months, so it probably doesn’t sound as ridiculous as it once did.

Ware has dreamed since he was a tyke – Ware started playing at Westurban in Wichita when he was 3 – of playing major-league baseball. When you hit .706, even in high school, it tends to fuel dreams.

At the moment, though, Ware is focused on being Sedgwick’s quarterback. He’s coming off of a 2013 season in which he passed for 2,915 yards and 29 touchdowns. He’s also a guard on Sedgwick’s basketball team; he plays, he says, to help stay in shape for baseball.

“At a small school like this, the football players play basketball and the basketball players play baseball and you’re pretty much with the same guys all year,” Ware said. “It makes the year go by fast.”

But back to 36 for 51. That would be impressive if Ware was throwing the baseball up and hitting it.

“Brylie competes on a different level in baseball,” said Collegiate football coach Mike Gehrer, who coaches Ware in summer baseball. “He’s not a flashy athlete or one you look at and just say automatically that he has all the skill sets. What makes him special is that he’s such an unbelievable worker. And he’s a freaky hitter.”

Ware hit six home runs last season and struck out, he said, just once. You can tell it still bothers him.

“I’m pretty sure it was against Ell-Saline,” said Ware, who is actually probably quite sure his strikeout came against Ell-Saline, one of Sedgwick’s biggest rivals. “It might have been Cody Walters who struck me out. It was a high fastball and I reacted late on it and just didn’t touch it.”

Interestingly, Ware and the Sedgwick football team (1-1) takes on Ell-Saline (2-0) on Friday night. Walters, Ware said, plays cornerback.

The most famous athlete to come from Sedgwick is Brian Moorman, who went on to punt in the NFL for 13 years. Moorman, who was cut this summer, is in Sedgwick this weekend for his 20-year high school reunion.

“We’re all excited here to see where Brylie is going to go and what he’s going to do,” Sedgwick football coach Jeff Werner said. “He has that type of talent that you don’t see come through a school like this very often.”

Ware (6-foot, 190 pounds) said he was named by his mother, who had a friend in college named Brylie. His father got to pick the name for Ware’s sister, Shae, after Shea Stadium, which used to be the home park for the New York Mets.

“And we’re Cubs fans,” Brylie said.

Go figure.

Colleges have shown interest and Ware is determined to try and play Division I baseball. But he’s hearing from smaller schools and junior colleges. He could go that route.

“I’ve always tried to do everything I can just to get myself to the next level in baseball,” Ware said. “We’ll just see what happens.”

Werner and Gehrer agree that it’s the intangibles that make Ware special.

“He tears his ACL his sophomore year at the beginning of football season and he’s back by the baseball season,” Gehrer said. “That shows the kind of dedication and drive he has. And because he’s not 6-2 and doesn’t have that lean, athletic body, he probably doesn’t fit the mold of what some coaches are looking for. But he’s a guy somebody needs to take a chance on just because of the way he competes. He may not have the physical stature somebody wants, but he makes up for it with his ability to compete.”

Werner sees the same thing from Ware on the football field.

“He has incredible drive to be an excellent athlete,” said Werner, in his ninth season with the Cardinals. “We have a lot of kids who work on their skills and who lift weights and do all of those things. But Brylie takes it to another level.”

Ware plays shortstop for Sedgwick’s baseball team and third base for his summer team, the Reds. He’s also a good pitcher, but it’s his ability to hit that sets him apart.

“My first word as a kid was ‘ball,’” Ware said. “My dad (Pat) played baseball and softball and I’ve always liked throwing the ball around with him.”

Ware gets in plenty of throws. Sedgwick’s spread offense is high powered because of Ware’s right arm.

“I probably throw 300 balls a day in football practice,” he said. “That keeps my arm pretty strong.”

Even during football season, Ware will get to the batting cages on weekends.

“He’s willing to work,” Gehrer said. “And that’s sometimes a unique characteristic in today’s world. He’s not worried about stats, he’s just out there working. He doesn’t take anything for granted. He knows he’s got to prove himself.”

This story was originally published September 19, 2014 at 5:36 PM with the headline "Bob Lutz: Sedgwick’s Brylie Ware puts the ball in play."