Kirkwood Community College’s baseball team landed just two transfers before the school year: Brothers Dylan and Tyler Acevedo.
Waco, Texas. Paramus, New Jersey. Oxford, Mississippi. New Rochelle, New York.
Each of these places has been home to at least one of the Acevedo brothers. Dylan played in Waco and Paramus while Tyler spent time in Oxford and New Rochelle.
Their next stop? Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
“We never really had the idea of playing college baseball together,” Tyler said. “It was always, hey, it’s going to be high school and we’re going to go our separate ways and then we’re just going to go on from there on out.”
Tyler, being a year older than Dylan, committed to the University of Mississippi back in 2021. After spending the summer and fall semesters there in 2024, he opened up his commitment and took his talents to Iona University. In his redshirt freshman season there a year ago, he appeared in eight games, starting each of them. An injury cut his season short again.
As for Dylan, after gauging interest from Division I programs out of high school, he decided to go the junior college route and committed to McLennan Community College in Waco, Texas. After one semester, he transferred to Bergen Community College in Paramus, New Jersey. There, he would post a .406 batting average with two home runs and 21 stolen bases in just 41 games.
This summer the two brothers played summer baseball for the Abilene Flying Bison in the Texas Collegiate League.
“We practiced one day and I was like, hey, I think we should go to the same college together. (Dylan) said ‘Is that going to be hard?’ I was like, ‘It might be, but let’s try it out.”
Kirkwood baseball head coach Todd Rima saw a social media post that Tyler was in the transfer portal, and he sent him a message.
“I didn’t hear anything back,” Rima said. “I actually know the assistant coach (Mike Clement) at Ole Miss really well. He’s a former Kirkwood Eagle. I sent Tyler another message telling him that and I instantly got a phone call.”
With the hopes of playing together, Tyler put in a good word for Dylan, and Rima was all in.
Dylan was most intrigued by Eagles hitting coach Pete Lauritson, who has coaching experience at North Iowa Area Community College and the University of Iowa. Then for a four-year stretch (2017-2020), Lauritson was a coach in the Cleveland Indians, now Guardians, minor league organization. He has been at Kirkwood since.
“I was on board from the moment I heard about the hitting coach,” Dylan said.
While their paths through collegiate baseball have greatly differed, the brothers have found a familiar connection playing alongside each other again.
Tyler, the shortstop, and Dylan, the second basemen, typically need good chemistry being part of the middle infield. But the brothers have years of experience with one another.
“I think in the past two years we’ve gotten our chemistry up,” Dylan said. “When we played in high school, it was there, but not as what you see today.”
For Dylan, being able to share a field with his brother again has been especially meaningful.
“Getting to have good chemistry with my brother, you know, making plays, it’s a really good feeling,” said Dylan.
The brothers join an Eagles team coming off a 45-10 season.
“Not only are these two great players, they’re great kids,” said Rima. “I think they’re great for our campus. They bring an energy to our program.”
