Pitch perfect

At their core, baseball and softball are nearly identical games.

But ask Tyler and Lexi Shrout and they’ll say there’s a big difference in the two sports. And that difference just happens to revolve around their specialty: pitching.

Both pitched at the college level in their respective sports, with Tyler Shrout playing at Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky, while Lexi Shrout pitched at Campbell University in North Carolina.

“You can just ride one arm for a season in softball and you can’t do that in baseball,” said Lexi Shrout, the head softball coach at Hoover High School.

Tyler Shrout is the pitching coach for the Samford University baseball team, with 21 of the 35 players on the roster carrying the label of pitcher. The pitching staff is a “team in itself.”

“A pitcher can only pitch once a week as a starter,” he said. “She may only need one or two arms to get through a season, while I’m going to need 12 to 18 healthy ones to get us through a year.”

REUNITED

The Shrouts met at Lipscomb University in Nashville, where they served as assistant coaches on the baseball and softball teams.

Prior to arriving at Lipscomb University in 2009, Tyler Shrout spent three years at Birmingham-Southern College, following his college coach, Jan Weisberg, to the Hilltop in 2006. Then, in 2013, a call from Casey Dunn came “out of the blue,” asking him to return to the Birmingham area and join the coaching staff at Samford.

“It took care of itself after that,” Tyler Shrout said.

Lexi Shrout transitioned to the high school game in the 2012-13 school year, with the idea of a future family on the horizon. After six seasons on staff at Lipscomb University, she was the head coach at Lipscomb Academy for two years, with her team winning back-to-back district championships.

The two wed in August 2013 but almost as soon as they returned from their honeymoon, they were separated. She stayed for the school year at Lipscomb Academy, while he moved to his new job at Samford. 

“She gets all the credit for keeping that together for sure,” Tyler Shrout said.

It’s not a completely uncommon scenario in the world of college coaching, but Tyler Shrout is in his sixth season now at Samford.

“A lot of times in college, you aren’t at a place more than three or four years,” he said. “I’ve been fortunate enough to be here six years.”

Lexi Shrout moved to Alabama in June 2014 and took a job at Hoover High, where she was set to be an assistant coach with the softball program. But just a few days before the new school year, head coach Erin Wright left for a job at Troy University and Lexi Shrout was elevated to the role of head coach. She has held that title for the last five seasons.

'EACH DAY IS DIFFERENT'

Routine can be a difficult thing to establish for anyone, much less for a family with two coaches and a two-year-old son, Brycen.

“It’s definitely very busy,” Lexi Shrout said. “We have to constantly communicate who’s going where, especially since we have Brycen. Making sure someone picks him up from daycare and making sure someone’s watching him.”

Lexi Shrout has much more control over her team’s schedule than her husband, not only because she’s a head coach but also because the high school season is more flexible in general. Samford’s baseball schedule typically consists of a weekend series that can be at home or on the road and a midweek game or two.

That’s not to mention Tyler Shrout’s recruiting responsibilities, which can take him away from home, sometimes at a moment’s notice. But Lexi Shrout has been in that arena as well and understands the job’s sporadic nature.

“It’s a lot of passing each other and definitely a busy season,” Lexi Shrout said of the spring.

On a Friday ahead of a Samford home series, Tyler Shrout enjoys the opportunity to bookend his days with moments that put wins and losses on the backburner. He takes the chance to look after Brycen before the day begins in earnest.

“We’ll get up in the morning and I’ll take care of him while [Lexi is] getting ready to go to school. That’s my time with him in the morning. We’ll watch cartoons and hang out,” he said.

After that, Tyler Shrout is off to work. He’s at the field around noon, the team takes batting practice around 3 p.m. and plays at 6 p.m. 

More often than not, Samford’s pitchers give the team a chance to win. During Tyler Shrout’s tenure at Samford, the Bulldogs have had a handful of all-conference pitchers.

But whether it’s a good night or bad night between the lines, there’s a smiling face waiting to greet Dad after nine innings.

“Nothing better than when we’re at home and he’s the first thing I see after a game,” Tyler Shrout said.

FINDING HOME

Lexi Shrout is from Pennsylvania, and Tyler Shrout is from Kentucky. But there’s something about where they’re at now that feels like a place they belong.

“We’re in a special place. I really believe that,” Tyler Shrout said.

No one can be sure what the future holds, but Lexi Shrout enjoys where she is. Being the head softball coach at the largest high school in the state can present challenges, but she said the school and community have always been supportive.

“Hoover has been awesome to me, and it’s a great job and I love it,” she said. “It would be hard to leave.”

Tyler Shrout’s second stint in the area has solidified his opinion as well.

“We’re in a place we can call home. We’ve really embraced the communities around here,” he said.