Layne Bruner Leading Montesano To Baseball State Title Before Moving On To WSU

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Layne Bruner (left) will look to help lead the Montesano High School baseball team deep into the 1A state tournament this year, all the while with his dad Mike Bruner leading the way as the Bulldogs head coach.
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By Tom Rohrer

salish cliffsA pitcher in baseball holds a position of individuality.

The catcher receives the pitch and there are 8 other players on the field in the same uniform, but the pitcher stands alone on an elevated mound, with the batter, all the players in the dugout and all the fans in the stand waiting in anticipation for the hurler’s next move.

This high amount of responsibility comes with added pressure, which in reality is part of the positions appeal to those who play it.

For Montesano High School senior pitcher Layne Bruner, pitching is all about control: controlling the strike zone, the pace of the game, and many times, the outcome of the contest.

“Pitching is something that gives you control of the game and the outcome,” said the 6’2” lefty. “In pitching, you control the tempo, how the other team does, how your team does.  I like that feeling.”

Layne Bruner (left) will look to help lead the Montesano High School baseball team deep into the 1A state tournament this year, all the while with his dad Mike Bruner leading the way as the Bulldogs head coach.
Layne Bruner (left) will look to help lead the Montesano High School baseball team deep into the 1A state tournament this year, all the while with his dad Mike Bruner leading the way as the Bulldogs head coach.

Bruner’s performance in 2012 was a key aspect to the Bulldog’s team success, which included a 1A Evergreen Conference Championship and a first place finish at the district tournament.  However, the Bulldog’s would be upset in the first round of the state playoffs, setting the stage for a 2013 MHS team looking to redeem themselves.

“We’re really a close group and have played together since we were young,” Bruner said of the Bulldog team.  “This is our last year, we’ve got lots of seniors and we want to piece it together.”

“Winning state has been a goal for years, and we’ve put in countless hours and years of work,” said Mike Bruner, Layne’s father and the Bulldogs head coach. “They’ve got a real potential to do it and the kids are great at putting personal aspirations beside, because with team success that comes too.”

As Bruner now knows, those personal goals do come in droves.

A standout player in all facets of the game, Bruner earned the attention of high level collegiate programs through his performance on the mound for out-of-season teams such as Taylor Select (of Seattle) and the Northwest Mariners Scout Team.

Armed with a fastball tallying in the high 80s (mph), a disorienting changeup, and a diamond-sharp breaking ball, Bruner earned offers from the University of Washington, Arizona State, Arkansas State University and interest from a host of other schools such as Oregon State University.  After originally verbally committing to Washington, Bruner officially signed with Washington State University, and will join the Cougar team in Pullman for the 2014 season.

“You go to a store in Pullman, they know you, they know how the team is doing,” Bruner said. “That’s a community thing, smaller communities often have more pressure. That’s something that attracted me to Pullman.  I love the pressure.”

Now that he’s made a college decision, Bruner and his father/coach can focus on the season at hand, and limit the outside distractions…..as much as they can.

“It was very surreal in a way, something that happened really fast,” Bruner said of his recruitment. “It was really hard to process at the time, but now I can focus with my team on winning a state title.”

“It’s a good stress, a blessing really,” Michael Bruner said of the recruiting process.  “But it got hectic, especially since we never went through the process before.  Now, we can just shift right to the season.”

The switch to WSU was in large part due to the relocation of Husky pitching coach Dave Dangler.   Dangler left the UW baseball team to be a professional scout in the Florida Marlins organization.

Montesano High School alum and friend of Coach Bruner, former UW baseball coach Tighe Dickinson recommended a velocity training program.  Dickisnon served as the UW pitching coach, prior to Dangler, and is now coaching at Arkansas State.  Dickinson suggested the program to Bruner after watching his athletes achieve success.   Bruner credits the high velocity on his fastball and his approach to the game to this program.

“Sophomore year my participation (in the workout program) intensified,” he said. “Then in the offseason, I could notice a change.  I picked up 6-7 mph between my sophomore and junior, maybe more.  That was a big key for me.”

With the physical development on schedule, Bruner then shifted his focus to his mental approach to the game, another aspect which improved thanks to the rigor of select team baseball.

“I was very immature,” Bruner said. “Talent wise, I thought I was developing. But my mental toughness and being able to bear down in tough situations wasn’t where it needed to be.  That’s something I’ve really improved upon.”

“Flying and traveling alone, that helped me out a lot,” continued Bruner about his select team traveling. “Being away from my family, that’s something I had to prepare for at the next level.”

Learning the rigors of long distance traveling and how to better mentally approach the game is all part of the learning process for Bruner.  It’s a process he’s taken head on, and has put in the necessary work required of him to move on to the next level, making his head coach one proud father.

“I’m very proud of him in many different ways,” Michael Bruner said. “I know the work he has put in.  He is a physically talented kid, but he’s put in the work to put himself in the position he is.”

Hopefully, for Montesano fans, that work will lead to the 2013 1A State Championship.

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