Tyler Cerny’s biggest goal is to play professional baseball, something countless young men around the world aspire to do. The Greenwood, Indiana native took a major step towards that goal when he committed to play college baseball at Indiana University as a freshman at Center Grove High School. His talent was undeniable. However, right as Cerny became an upperclassman and sought to continue developing his physical tools, an undiagnosed illness took him off the diamond for most of spring 2021. 

Despite undergoing hundreds of blood tests and even being tested for cancer via a bone marrow biopsy, doctors never formally diagnosed Cerny. He lost nearly 20 pounds before he was well enough to pick up a bat. 

“I’ve never felt a bat that heavy before,” Cerny said. “You don’t really think about that happening. Like, ‘I’ve got some work to do. I’m not where I need to be.’”  

He never wavered. Cerny never made excuses – he put his head down and got back to work. Head coach Jeff Mercer, who first saw Cerny manning the middle infield as a freshman at Center Grove, wasn’t surprised. 

“The thing that struck me from the first time I watched him play was his competitive desire to succeed,” Mercer said. “He holds himself to such a high standard.” 

Even as a young high school player, Mercer saw a competitive fire within Cerny on the field – if he made an error in warmups, he was hard on himself. He wanted to win, and that incessant quest for success helped him push through a unique type of adversity. 

“You could see him attack his illness the same way,” Mercer said. “He is so focused on succeeding, he refuses to be denied.”

It was far from easy for Cerny once he got to Indiana. In the post-Covid college baseball world, most starting lineups are filled with juniors, seniors and graduate students. Cerny was an outlier, becoming Indiana’s starting second baseman as a true freshman and the starting shortstop a year later after Phillip Glasser was drafted by the Washington Nationals. It wasn’t a smooth transition. Cerny struggled, posting a team-worst .882 fielding percentage a month into the 2024 season. 

“Going from second base to shortstop at this level is hard,” Mercer said. “You’ve got to be in the  boat with him, when you take a young guy and put him at shortstop on a team that’s ranked top-25 in the country. I learned that he’s tough enough to persevere through the good days and the bad days.” 

Much like when he was sick, Cerny saw the work that needed to be done. With Mercer, a fellow south-central Indiana native by his side, he watched film, polished his glovework and cemented himself as a key part of Indiana’s run to the Big Ten Tournament semifinal and the Knoxville Regional. 

“He grew up knowing how to work,” Mercer said. “I have a rapport and a relationship with him that’s a little bit unique. We can have firm conversations back and forth. That’s helped me to have a level of trust in him – when he’s going through his illness, when he’s going through the [on-field] struggles – that he’s capable of overcoming those things, handling them and he’ll eventually get himself back where he needs to be.” 

“Hopefully, [Tyler] has the same level of trust in me,” Mercer added. “I tell the guys, ‘I’m not going to be perfect. I’ll make mistakes, but I would ask for your grace like you’re going to ask for mine.’ When you look at all the obstacles he’s overcome, I hope he feels like, in me, he has someone who’s always had his back.” 

Now a draft-eligible junior, 2025 may be Cerny’s last season in an Indiana uniform. His experience with off-the-field hurdles gives him an advantage as he prepares for the next step in his journey to the pros. 

“I understand that anything could get taken away from you at any time,” Cerny said. “You’ve got to live in the moment. Be where your feet are, enjoy what you’re doing. A lot of times, people don’t enjoy the hard stuff. You’ve got to embrace that and just enjoy it.” 

“I hope he has the chance to play professional baseball for a long time,” Mercer said. “He has the ability and the demeanor. A lot of it will be decided upon how he handles whatever challenge he has next. If the past is any indication of what the future holds, he’ll handle that challenge well and overcome it.”