Backroads and Ballfields: Ty Heydon Takes His Only D1 Offer to South Dakota State
By Daniel Wilson ·
Coon Rapids is a small town in Carroll County, Iowa. Its high school shares a team with Bayard, and the Crusaders had lost in a Class 1A substate final in each of the last two summers. This July they finally got through, beating Lenox 3-1 at Valley High School in West Des Moines behind a complete game from a junior named Ty Heydon. KMA Sports had him at 13 strikeouts, three hits and two walks. "The fastball was the old reliable," he told KMA afterward.
Heydon has committed to South Dakota State, KMA reported Oct. 9. He told KMA that it came down to the Jackrabbits and Iowa Western, and he was plain about the deciding factor. "It was my only D1 offer," he said, adding that he grew to love the coaches after talking with them. He also mentioned the financial side, the facility, the academic support and an environmental studies program he is interested in.
The Summer Line
Iowa plays high school baseball in the summer, so the season KMA wrote about wrapped in July. On the mound, Heydon threw 52 innings with 88 strikeouts and a 1.75 ERA. At the plate, he hit .593 with a .699 on-base percentage and a 1.132 slugging percentage, with 15 doubles, five triples and eight home runs. KMA's state tournament preview, published before the Crusaders' opener, had him at 64 RBIs and a 6-0 record on the mound.
That works out to about 15 strikeouts per nine innings. Class 1A is the smallest classification in the state, and numbers like these from that level carry a big asterisk on the competition. That's not a knock on Heydon, who can only face the teams on his schedule. The line shows how he did at his level. It can't show where he would rank against a wider field.
The Arm
KMA's state preview reported that Heydon topped out at 92 mph, and its commitment story described his fastball as sitting in the low 90s. Neither story says what gun produced the reading or where it came from, and I couldn't find a public showcase or event reading to match it. So I'd treat 92 as a reported max, not a confirmed one. He told KMA after the substate final that he leaned on the fastball and then mixed in curveballs to keep hitters off it.
John Waddle, who has coached Coon Rapids-Bayard long enough to approach 900 career wins, told KMA that Heydon had been the team's top catcher a year earlier. Moving him to the mound full time cost the defense, Waddle said, until freshman Blake Heydon, Ty's younger brother, took over behind the plate. Radio station KSOM's July 19 state preview listed Ty as a shortstop and pitcher. The staff needed the arm, too. Older brother Cal Heydon, last year's ace, threw only 11 innings this season because of shoulder tendinitis, according to KMA. "His brother, Ty, has stepped up and is really an elite pitcher for us," Waddle said.
State, and the Jackrabbits
Coon Rapids-Bayard went into state as the No. 1 seed at 28-3, its first trip since 2019 and the seventh in program history. Eighth-seeded Moravia beat the Crusaders 4-2 in the first round on July 20 in Carroll, according to MaxPreps' game recap. Moravia had won 21 straight by then.
South Dakota State is coming off a breakthrough spring. Rob Bishop, the head coach since August 2016, led the Jackrabbits to the 2026 Summit League tournament title and the program's second Division I NCAA tournament appearance. They were the No. 4 seed at the Lincoln Regional and went two and out. The current roster on GoJacks lists six players from Iowa, and three of them came through Iowa junior colleges, including infielder Kayden Anderson of Glenwood, who went from Iowa Western to Brookings. Those are the same two schools Heydon chose between.
Heydon told KMA how his recruitment started: one of his fall coaches reached out to South Dakota State, the staff came to watch a game, and the call followed. Recruiting picked up after the summer season and into the fall, he said.
What Comes Next
Heydon was a junior this past summer, which makes him a 2027 graduate and puts him in line for the 2027 draft. Because Iowa's season runs into July, his senior year and that draft will land close together. He has no 80Grade profile or rank yet.
The open question for a two-way player at this level is which way the college staff will lean. The arm has the reported velocity, and the strikeout rate suggests hitters at his level couldn't handle it. The bat has the slash line and a history behind the plate. What would help me most is a velocity reading from a named event or a known gun, and some sense of how either skill plays against older competition. South Dakota State will get the first real answer.