New York Native Tyler Honahan's Dream Come True

  It's the 36th round of the 2016 MLB Draft and pitcher Tyler Honahan is sitting in his kitchen waiting to see if his name will be called.

     "I was at home in Colorado with my parents, my brother, and some of his friends who had come over. I was kind of getting a little anxious and nervous," Honahan said. "Once I heard my name, I got emotional with my mom, dad, and brother. It was definitely one of the most memorable moments in baseball for me."

     For Honahan, it was special and a dream come true being picked by the New York Yankees, a team he had grown up watching before his family moved to Colorado.

     "I lived in Rocky Point, New York on Long Island and my dad has season tickets so I went to Yankees games all the time," Honahan said. "I used to go to old Yankee Stadium and watch Derek Jeter play, Andy Pettitte pitch, and Jorge Posada behind the plate. It was pretty cool to get picked by the Yankees and I'm very fortunate."

     Honahan grew up playing baseball with his dad and older brother and fell in love with the game.

     "Baseball was always my number one sport even though I played hockey and basketball," Honahan said. "I was mainly an outfielder when I wasn't pitching."

    He took that love of the game with him whenever the family moved to Parker, Colorado.

     "We moved in 2006 whenever I was 12. At first, it was a bit of a culture shock. It was definitely different but I got used to it by high school. I ended up really liking it there and met some great friends."

     But whenever the opportunity came to play college ball back in New York, Honahan jumped on the opportunity choosing to pitch for Stony Brook.

     "I visited a few schools. I visited Nebraska and liked the facilities but it was in a small town and me being from New York, I wasn't sure if I would like it as much," Honahan said. "I also visited the University of Arizona and Arizona State. Once Stony Brook called, I figured it would be a cool idea to go back home to play baseball. It was fun with a bunch of family support around me and it was easy for my parents to come see me so it was nice."

     Honahan said at first people in Colorado were confused by his decision and didn't really consider Stony Brook to be a big baseball program.

     "At first when I committed, people were like where is Stony Brook. Once they made it to the College World Series in 2012, people started to realize what Stony Brook was," Honahan said. "When I came in, I realized it was going to be a great program and playing Division I baseball for four years was the best time of my life and the coaches and teammates that I played with and got the opportunity to play for. It was such a great opportunity."

     Honahan was drafted by the Yankees and was assigned to Pulaski where he has spent the season in the bullpen and he's enjoying every minute of it.

     "I think I've done pretty well. It's cool to play against guys that are high rounders and I'm liking the bullpen," Honahan said. "The adrenaline kicks in pretty quick. It's nice to have that feeling coming into the game and to be able to come in in certain situations and be the guy to get a big out or strikeout. It's a lot of fun so far and I'm enjoying it."