Correspondent photo / Lowell Spencer Brothers Trent Rarick (left) and Tyler Rarick recently faced off as members of Canfield and Heartland Christian, respectively.

CANFIELD – They say that nobody’s got your back like a brother. On Thursday night at Canfield’s baseball diamond, twin brothers Trent and Tyler Rarick had a unique opportunity to face each other from opposite dugouts in a game between the Heartland Christian Lions and the Canfield Cardinals.

The Rarick family, including mom Ellen and dad Matt live in Canfield, but Tyler chose to attend Heartland Christian after his sophomore season. It helped that several of Tyler’s baseball friends also chose to attend Heartland Christian.

“I made the choice to get more playing time and most of these guys, I also played baseball with them when I was younger. I wanted to try something new. The transfer was stressful though and I missed half of my junior season,” Tyler said.

“It’s a little different,” Trent remarked about having Tyler at another school. “But I get to see him. Like today, I get to play against him. It was a pretty good day.”

It was the first time that the brothers faced each other on opposite teams as the Cardinals and Lions had not played each other the past two years that Tyler had been attending Heartland Christian. But with numerous rainouts this season, both programs had an opportunity to schedule the contest. The fact that Trent was next up in the Cardinals rotation made for a perfect scenario.

“They will play anyone,” Cardinals coach Gary Knittle said Heartland. “We knew we had an open date after we just played three big games. Trent was due to throw, and I reached out yesterday to ask him, ‘Coach (Franken), what do you think’? He didn’t hesitate. It was enjoyable to watch. I don’t know about Mom and Dad, but for the first couple of innings, it lived up to the expectations.”

“We don’t back down from any challenge,” Lions Coach Mark Franken said. “This one is particularly special because a lot of our players are actually from up this way, in Canfield and the Austintown area. And of course, the Raricks with Tyler.”

“I talk to my brother every night about games,” Tyler said. “When I heard that we were playing against him, it was one of the greatest things to play baseball with him.”

“It was great, like a relief, to throw against him,” Trent said of the matchup. “It felt really good.”

Even though he is a regular in the Lions’ outfield, Heartland countered by having Trent pitch for the Lions. Trent is solely a pitcher for the Cardinals, so he didn’t bat against his brother. But Tyler enjoyed a rather successful night against his sibling going 2-for-2.

The two faced each other in the second inning when Tyler stepped into the batter’s box with one out and the Cardinals leading 1-0. After he worked Trent to a full count, he smacked a single to the left for the Lions’ first hit. He would eventually steal home one out later on his brother to tie the contest at 1-1.

“I expected a curveball, but I knew if there were two strikes that he was going to throw a strike. He throws a lot of strikes,” Trent said. “I was looking for a pitch in the zone and I was going to swing at it, no matter what.”

As far as stealing home, Trent knew his brother’s tendencies and took advantage of the situation.

“I know he takes his time when he gets set, so I knew when his foot started tapping that I had the motion to go. I told the coach that I was going to go, and he said go ahead,” Tyler described the scoring theft.

“I was not expecting that whatsoever” Trent admitted. “I figured that he would have a big lead because he usually does. But I wasn’t expecting him to go home. He caught me off guard there.”

In the third inning, Tyler would again come up big with an RBI infield single to boost the Lions’ advantage over the Cardinals to 3-1. However, it was Trent who got the last laugh as the Cardinals scored five runs in the bottom of the third inning en route to an 11-3 victory over the Lions.

Trent got the win with four innings pitched while surrendering two walks and striking out 11. Tyler suffered the loss after pitching three innings and giving up four hits and five walks.

“Twelve outs, 11 Ks. That’s all I have to say,” Trent said with a big grin.

As seniors at both of their schools, they are key players. Trent is one of only two senior players on the Cardinals’ team. Likewise, Tyler has become a team leader for the Lions.

“We are a young group,” Knittle said. “He is a pitcher only, and we have a lot of depth there, so there is a lot of downtime for him where he gets to be a mentor for our younger kids. And he does a great job with that. When he gets his opportunities, he makes the most of them. I’m happy for him.”

“It’s a cliche, but he really is the heart and soul of the team,” Franken said of Tyler. “He is the one who brings the most emotion, he has what I guess you would call baseball moxie. Coming to Heartland Christian has made a world of difference in his life off the baseball field, too. He is not only a leader on the field, he is also leader at his church. He has a bright future.”

The brothers will join forces once again next year when they both continue their baseball careers at Geneva College.

“It’s going to be awesome to get to play baseball together. I love him to death. He is a best friend to me,” Tyler said.

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