A different uniform

POLSON — Mission Valley Mariners pitcher Kellen Hoyt has been called up to the big leagues, but we’re not talking about Major League Baseball.

Hoyt, a specialist in the U.S. Army’s Military Police Corps, is part of a unit being deployed to Afghanistan in the coming days.

His old unit had a heartwarming send-off for their solider in his last game as a Mariner last Tuesday, a game in which Hoyt pitched the local American Legion baseball team to a 16-1 victory over the Kalispell Lakers A team.

Prior to Hoyt’s stellar outing on the mound, though, the team left no holds barred in honoring the soon-to-be-deployed soldier. Each player delivered Hoyt a yellow rose at home plate, and the Mission Valley Honor Guard presented the colors at the mound. There was hardly a dry eye at O’Maley Park.

“I wasn’t expecting it at all,” Hoyt said of the pregame reception. “I didn’t see it coming. … That was amazing.”

The 19-year-old said he was aware that the Mariners would be hanging yellow ribbons at the park to honor him while he is deployed, but he had no idea that such a meaningful ceremony was in the works.

Coach Jami Hanson said the team can’t do enough to honor a man sacrificing so much for them.

“The service that he’s doing for us as individuals, there’s not enough to be said about that,” Hanson said.

And like any good coach, Hanson hopes some of the lessons he taught Hoyt in baseball will carry over.

“I’m hoping that’s something that maybe he’s gained and learned a little along the way with us,” the skipper said. “… He’s going to be a great soldier. … He’s got that fire.”

Hoyt said the Mariners, especially Hanson, have been more family than friends to him over the years.

“The past five years I’ve been playing for Jami, and for me it’s been like a father and son thing because I lost my dad when I was 14,” Hoyt said. “He helped lead me and taught me a lot of life lessons. I wouldn’t be the man I am now without Mariner baseball.”

Hanson said it’s all part of doing his job as a coach.

“They’re in your care so much of the time,” he said. “I think that’s just something … They’re your kids more than when they are with your parents. I don’t treat it any differently than my kid. That’s the life that you have as a coach. That’s a role model that you should be acting as.”

As Hoyt became one of the senior members of the Mariners, the right-hander took on a leadership role with the team.

“He brought to the team fire, experience, drive, the need to be better every time he took the mound, and a strong reliable arm to the pitching staff,” teammate Ryan Pablo said. “I was never nervous about the outcome of a game when he took the mound.”

Hoyt said the decision to enlist wasn’t a tough one. He attended basic training and advanced individual training in the summer of 2012 at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo.

“I’ve just always felt like it was something that I could or should do,” Hoyt said, noting that the timing was good for him as well. “I was just getting caught up in the wrong crowd and whatnot. I just decided I didn’t want to be doing that anymore.”

Hanson said the maturation process has been visible with Hoyt.

“He matured without a doubt,” the coach said. “He probably became more disciplined. The kid was a great kid prior to. He did have to make some changes, and he did make those changes.”

Hoyt took those changes and made the most of them, pitching a season for Dawson Community College in Glendive this spring. He said the college has offered his scholarship back upon his return from Afghanistan.

For the time being, though, the Mariner will be wearing a camouflage uniform.

??I’d rather him be with us,” Hanson said. “I don’t want to be selfish, but I don’t want to send him off to the military. That’s a fear … but it’s also a compliment.”