Athlete of the Week: Tyler Campbell

St. Georges pitcher Tyler Campbell held William Penn to four hits over six shutout innings in the Hawks’ season opener.

St. Georges pitcher Tyler Campbell poses for a portrait at St. Georges High School on Monday afternoon.

St. Georges pitcher Tyler Campbell poses for a portrait at St. Georges High School on Monday afternoon.

TYLER CAMPBELL, senior, St. Georges baseball

THE WEEK: Helped the Hawks get off to a solid start in their season opener, pitching six shutout innings and holding William Penn to four hits in a 5-0 victory on March 24.

THE CONTROL: “My goal today was just throw strikes, let my defense work,” Campbell said. “Put every ball in every position at the plate where I could locate strikes.”

THE DEFENSE: St. Georges played mistake-free defense and capitalized on four William Penn errors in the victory. “That was definitely some great defense. I loved it,” Campbell said. “It got me really excited, ground balls, double plays, catcher throwing a guy out when he was taking off. That was awesome.”

THE COACH SAYS: “There was no question that Campbell was going to keep us in the season opener,” Hawks coach Jeff Rodgers said. “We were worried about the defense a little bit, but Tyler Campbell keeps you in games.”

THE STRATEGY: Campbell wants to throw strikes, but not too many strikes. “I’m trying to improve two-strike pitches,” he said. “Definitely used to struggle last year, 0-2 and 1-2 counts, keeping the ball too much in the zone. So this year I’m trying to work on spreading the zone out.”

THE HITTING: Campbell, the Hawks’ leadoff batter, also helped his team with a hit and a sacrifice bunt. “First at-bat, I’m trying to look at pitches, see what he has and tell my other hitters, ‘Hey, he has this. His curveball looks nice, his fastball is coming in.’ That’s my job in the first at-bat,” he said. “And then, get on [base]. That’s the main job for a leadoff batter.”

THE LEADERSHIP: “There isn’t a time when he’s not hustling during drills,” Rodgers said. “He does a great job of leading by example, and in the moments when someone needs to say something or speak up, he has no problem doing that.”

THE CLASSROOM: Campbell’s favorite subjects are World History and Math. “I definitely enjoy World History; it’s pretty interesting to me,” he said. “And I’ve always loved doing Math. It’s very entertaining.”

THE FUTURE: Campbell has committed to continue his baseball career at Wilmington University. “It felt like the right fit for me,” he said. “I love the coaching staff, I love the players, it’s close to home. Everything just felt comfortable.”

Send Athlete of the Week nominations to bmyers@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter: @BradMyersTNJ