Wheels and steals: Dylan Muszynski uses speed to help lead Linn-Mar baseball

CEDAR RAPIDS — Linn-Mar’s Dylan Muszynski was a role player last summer.

He played defense until he received more offensive chances later in his freshman season. Muszynski said he felt he needed to increase his role and use his attributes.

So, he focused on getting on base and using his speed and aggressiveness to wreak havoc on opponents. The Lions have found a dynamo on offense that has generated 35 stolen bases this year.

“Getting on the base paths and stealing has kind of been that (role) for me,” Muszynski said. “It’s been pretty cool.”

Muszynski’s impact was on display Friday at Cedar Rapids Washington. He led off the game with a hit, bolted to second when the ball bounced away from the outfielder, stole third and scored on a Toby Cruz groundout in Linn-Mar’s 5-2 victory in the opener of a Mississippi Valley Conference doubleheader. The Lions won the nightcap, 8-5.

“He’s fun to watch,” Linn-Mar Coach Kyle Rodenkirk said. “He’s a go-getter. I love the way he competes every pitch. He’s an easy player to coach and a leader by example, which our team needs.”

Baserunning and stealing bags has become a lost art form in different levels of baseball. The game has transitioned to long ball and power numbers from small ball and manufacturing runs. Muszynski, a multisport standout including football, has always used his speed to his advantage in baseball.

“For me, I feel it’s more raw,” Muszynski said. “Just doing what I can do best. Any way I can help the team. Most of the time it is just getting on base and stealing bases. I enjoy it.”

Rodenkirk said Muszynski is one of the players he has given a “green light” to on the bases, allowing Muszynski to decide to run or not. Faith from the coaches provides an extra boost, leading to 35 steals in 41 attempts, which puts him fifth in the state among all classes and second in Class 4A.

“It makes it a lot easier, knowing my coaches have a lot of trust and confidence in me,” Muszynski said. “They’ve been like that all year.”

Muszynski broke Linn-Mar’s single-season stolen base mark earlier this season with seven. The old record was 52 years old. Rodenkirk said another conference coach used Muszynski as an example of how to lead off base to his bench during a game. So, what is more important to stealing bases — situational knowledge or natural speed?

“It’s a combination of both,” Rodenkirk said. “He’s got a really good baseball I.Q. He’s just a stud athlete, too. He knows what is going on.

“It’s a huge weapon to have. He’s been thrown out and picked off before, but more times than not it’s great to have him because you know he has a good chance of getting into scoring position for the team.”

The toughest aspect is getting on base and Muszynski dedicated a lot of time in the offseason to being a better hitter. He has a team-high 38 hits, batting .376 with a .484 on-base percentage.

“I needed to step up in that aspect,” Muszynski said. “I really emphasized working on that so I could be a bigger part of the team and play a bigger role.

“Our team does its best when we get that leadoff guy on. If I can get in scoring position, it truly is like a sparkplug for the team. They’ll feed off the energy. For us to do that for each other has been the most special part.”

Cruz drove in two runs and Austin Andersen had two hits and two runs for Linn-Mar in Game 1.

Erich Rinderknecht had three hits and scored once for Washington (7-22). The Warriors’ Roman Rivera had two hits and two runs, while Connor Mullinex had two hits.

In Game 2, Washington took a 3-0 lead in the first, receiving a run-scoring double from Buonadonna and a two-run single from Henry Schuster.

The Lions (19-12) broke open the game with a five-run third highlighted by a three-run double from Kaden Harris and Jackson Mishler’s RBI single. They added three more in the fourth, getting a sacrifice fly from Mishler and a run-scoring base hit from Jaxon Kramer.

Buonadonna and Rivera paced the Warriors with two hits apiece in the nightcap.

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