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In an age where analytics have seemingly taken over the game, where every pitch is analyzed, where every at-bat is scrutinized, Mahoning Valley Scrappers outfielder Tye Wood prefers a simpler approach to baseball.
"It's all about scoring more runs than your opponent," Wood said. "Find a way to get on base, then find a way to score.
"I've always been about trying to get on base any way possible. Find a way to advance and to allow the offense to work behind me so I can score runs. That's the name of the game."
After spending five years at the college level, Wood is hoping that his old-school mentality toward baseball will catch the eyes of pro scouts.
Wood began his collegiate career at Iowa Western Junior College - a perennial junior college powerhouse - where he earned All-Region honors two straight years. As a freshman in 2022 Wood played in 44 games and batted .375, including six doubles, four triples and a home run. He stole a league-leading 23 bases.
Wood followed that up with an even more impressive sophomore season in which he batted .413, scored 59 runs and again led the league with 23 stolen bases.
"I had some DI offers while I was in high school, but I wanted to go to a place where I knew I was going to get playing time right away," Wood said. "I didn't want to go to a DI school only to sit the bench and then end up at a community college anyway after losing a year.
"It worked out great. Iowa Western is an elite JC program. My style of play fit right in. The culture, the environment, everything about that place was an ideal fit."
With an impressive college resume now intact, Wood opted to transfer to the University of New Mexico at the start of his junior year. His game also flourished in the Mountain West Conference. In 2024, he batted .325 with eight doubles and four triples. His .488 on-base percentage ranked 44th in the nation and 2nd in the MWC. His 20 stolen bases were the most by a Lobo player in a single season since 2012.
In his senior season in 2025, Wood batted .317 with 53 runs, 51 hits, 14 doubles, 34 walks and an on-base percentage of .448.
Wood, who received his master's degree in applied business, completed his collegiate career this past spring at Tulane, where he played as a graduate student.
With the Green Wave, Wood was one of three players on the team to start all 56 games. He led the team with 19 stolen bases, he had 52 hits, scored 45 runs and reached base 35 times via walks.
"A huge part of my game is my low strikeout rate," Wood said. "I'm a pretty strong two-strike hitter. I just concentrate on putting the ball in play and allowing my speed to give me a chance to get on base.
"I've been blessed with speed. I just try to utilize my speed to my advantage and make it become a big part of the game."
Wood grew up in Gardner, Kan., where he was a multi-sport athlete, playing baseball, basketball and football into his teens. Midway through his high school career, he chose to stick with baseball.
"A lot of athletes love playing the different sports year-round, but it was tough on me to juggle from sport to sport," Wood said. "For me it was easy to move to just baseball. It was always my favorite sport, and it was my best sport."
With his master's degree secured, Wood expects his move from the baseball diamond to the business world will be a seamless transition. Still, he is hopeful that such a move doesn't take place any time soon.
"I want to take this baseball gig as far as I can, as long as I can," Wood said.