GREENVILLE – The Greenville Citizens Baseball League (GCBL) awarded the Annual Tyler Kuhn Memorial Scholarship to 2020 Greenville Senior High School graduate Tyler Beyke with the parents of the late Tyler Kuhn; Barb and Tim Kuhn attending the Thursday night ceremony at Sater Park.
“I would like to the Kuhn family,” Beyke said. “It is also a great honor because Tyler was a great player for Greenville and I know he is greatly missed but he will never be forgotten. Greenville thinks a lot of him and that is why we have the sign (10) out in leftfield.”
“It is a great honor to receive the scholarship and the award,” continued Beyke. “I would like to thank the GCBL for the scholarship and letting me play on the Greenville baseball fields my whole life. I wouldn’t be the ball player I am today without the GCBL.”
“Thank you to Ron Kurg (GCBL Commissioner),” Beyke added. “Last but not least, thank you to Eric Blumenstock (GHS varsity baseball coach) and Chad Henry (Greenville American Legion Post 140 baseball coach).”
“I am very happy that Tyler (Kuhn) has had such an impact here,” said Barb Kuhn, the mother of Tyler Kuhn. “There were times that you could just choke him but he had that look about him that made you laugh and smile. That was just his personality. He just wanted to make everybody happy.”
Tyler Kuhn, a 2012 graduate of Greenville High School and starting centerfielder for the Greenville Senior High School varsity baseball team lost his life in a tragic car accident on October 2, 2012.
While playing for the Green Wave, Tyler wore No. 10 and no player has worn the uniform number since. Tyler’s No. 10 was officially retired at the opening ceremonies of the 2016 inaugural Tyler Kuhn Memorial Tournament.
“Tyler (Kuhn) was a great kid,” said GHS varsity baseball coach, Eric Blumenstock. “He liked to have fun and could be ornery. My first year of coaching I came in with that group and out of that group we had 12 seniors from that freshman group that stuck with it and played it through so that was a really good group of kids and Tyler was right there at the top of them.”
Beyke, a four year starting shortstop and pitcher for the Green Wave varsity baseball team recently signed to continue his education while playing baseball for the Trine University Thunder baseball program.
“I was really surprised when I saw Tyler (Beyke) was going to get the award and I thought, who better than another Tyler,” said Barb. “I think it is a perfect fit for this scholarship.”
“Outstanding kid, outstanding athlete, outstanding student, outstanding person in general,” Coach Blumenstock said of Beyke. “Couldn’t have made a better choice.”
“To have this tournament and scholarships named for Tyler just shows how much he was cared for and what an impact he had for this team, for the baseball and the whole organization,” concluded Barb Kuhn. “Tyler would spend his life out here.”
The Fifth Annual Tyler Kuhn Memorial Baseball Tournament was cancelled for the 2020 season due to the Coronavirus pandemic.
