Older Brother Lights Path to Cornell for Tam Star

It’s a long way from Mill Valley to Ithaca, N.Y.

Twice as far if you travel the path senior is navigating.

Ever since he watched his older brother Matt make the Cornell University baseball team as a walk-on 10 years ago, Light has been intrigued by the prospect of following in his brother’s cleats.

But there was one small problem. Light was a pitcher with arm trouble. He barely warranted consideration to toe the slab at Tam, let alone in Division I college ball.

Then Light made a decision that put his entire baseball career in jeopardy. Upon being diagnosed with a partially torn rotator cuff and torn labrum last June, he decided to have major surgery in an effort to make the pain go away.

It worked. But Light’s pitching career went away along with it.

“I certainly had doubts,” he admitted this week. “But now I have no pain and I’m much more accurate with the same velocity.

“Just no more pitching.”

So now Light has a replacement dream: To make the Cornell team next spring as an outfielder.

“We went to watch my brother play about four times. It was really cool,” Light noted of the 3,000-mile trek to upstate New York. “The team was really good. It was really cool watching that level of play.

“I thought it was something I might want to do. I talked to my brother and he thought it was great. I thought if my brother liked it, then I would like it.”

Of course, you don’t just grab your glove and show up on an Ivy League campus. But Light has satisfied the other prerequisites – his 4.2 grade-point average helped him get accepted at the prestigious school.

And now comes the hard part.

Then again, it’s possible Light is a better outfielder than he ever was a pitcher. He is Tam’s clean-up hitter, having compiled a .391 average exclusively using a wood bat this season as the club's starting centerfielder.

He’s produced in the clutch (five RBIs), hit for power (three doubles and a triple among his nine hits) and been unstoppable on the bases (6-for-6 in steals).

“This is a kid that can definitely play at the next level,” assessed Tam coach , who was Matt Light’s coach at Branson. “He has the work ethic.”

Light says his “realistic” goal is to hit between .350 and .400 this season. He credits his brother for much of his love of baseball.

“We had flood lights outside our house. We’d throw into a net pretty much every night,” he recalled. “I used to watch him pitch a lot.”

Light recognizes just making the Cornell team will be very difficult, let alone doing it less than two years removed from major shoulder surgery. But he’s encouraged by his results for the Red-tailed Hawks this season.

“I’ve got a lot of work to do if I’m even to be considered,” he noted. “Fielding, throwing, hitting … everything.

“But right now I’m thinking more about our team. Our pitching has been really good. When the bats come together, we can be very good.”

Light calls Terry “one of the most dedicated coaches I’ve ever had,” and applauds Hawks co-captains and for their intensity and leadership. He believes it’ll all come together to work out in the end – both for his team and for his future plans.

“We have good chemistry,” he assured. “We all want it personally, but we also want it for the program. I’m grateful for the coach giving me the opportunity to play.”

He hopes to be able to say the same thing a year from now.

TAM BASEBALL UPDATE

Recent results: Beat Novato, 6-2; beat Washington (San Francisco), 9-3; lost to San Marin, 4-2; lost to Alhambra (Martinez), 6-1.

Highlights: pitched 2 2/3 innings of shutout relief to save the win over Novato … led the hitting attack with a single and an RBI … Ian Light accounted for both runs (scored one, drove in the other) in the loss to San Marin … Alhambra’s Robert Stephenson, a potential first-round pick in the next Major League Baseball draft, stymied the Hawks in the non-league game.

Coach Mike Terry’s comments (on the San Marin game): “We didn’t bring good energy (at the start of the game). I’m constantly trying to motivate guys to bring intensity each day. I’m working hard at changing the mind-set of the team.”

Coach Terry’s comments (on the Alhambra game): “I told my assistant coach before the game: ‘It’s never a good thing when scouts are lining up to watch the other team’s pitcher warm up in the bullpen.' ”

Upcoming schedule: Friday at home vs. Terra Linda, 4:30 p.m.; Saturday at home vs. San Rafael, noon; Tuesday vs. Branson at College of Marin, 4:30 p.m.