At the end of this season, starting pitcher Tyler Painton will have options, to say the least. He will have his Associate’s degree and one more year of eligibility if he decides to continue playing at Bakersfield College.

For most, the decision to move on might be instantaneous, but for Tyler, he has a unique situation in that he is at the top of the pitching rotation for his father’s team.

BC coach Tim Painton, glowingly proud of his son’s accomplishments both on and off the baseball diamond, is also in a unique position.

Tim, coming from a pitching background, has had a chance to pass on his knowledge of the game to his son more so than ever before.

“It’s been a very positive thing, and hopefully it continues along those lines and he continues to grow as a player,” Tim said of his son.

“I think there has been a player-coach relationship that we’ve never had in the past, and I think that’s been beneficial.”

Tyler has been on a tear in his first season with the Renegades.

He has struck out 11 batters and has an ERA of 0.75 through his first two starts.

He has also been BC’s designated hitter when not on the mound, batting .364 with three RBIs and a home run.

Tyler played at the University of San Diego last year on a full-ride scholarship but got injured in the middle of the season and decided to come back to BC where, he says, it is a better environment.

“I decided to come back here and get my feet back on the ground,” Tyler said.

Tyler’s relationship with his father on the field is completely different than that off the field.

“We keep it pretty separate,” Tyler said.

“Baseball is here and … family and everything else is at home. It’s like two different worlds really.”

The fact that Tyler acknowledges this divide isn’t a coincidence, as his father has managed this intentionally.

“I’ve really tried to separate baseball from family,” Tim said. “You really have to do that. We try and leave baseball at the field and not discuss it at home and try and be a family.”

But just because the two worlds are separate, doesn’t mean that they don’t directly influence the other.

Tyler said that being around his father so much more has had a positive impact on their relationship.

“We probably weren’t as close as before,” Tyler said. “Part of the reason before was he was always here doing his stuff, and now I’m here, too, and we’re together.”

The extended interaction between the two has also allowed Tim to get to know his son even more than an average father would.

“I think more so than anything else … I’ve got to see work ethic that I was hoping he would have,” Tim said of his son, adding that he has also witnessed his son’s tremendous love for the game of baseball.

Despite the added dimension of their relationship, Tim and Tyler both deny that, when in the clubhouse, there is any special treatment.

“From a baseball standpoint I treat all of our players exactly the same,” Tim said.

“[Tyler] gets treated just as any other player would. I think with most of our players, because of the amount of time we spend together – and it’s basically a year-round program – I think I develop really good relationships with all of our players.”

Tyler concurs that no special treatment exists.

“A line hasn’t been crossed yet, and hopefully it doesn’t,” Tyler said.

This isn’t the first time a BC coach has coached his son.

One of the more recent cases took place when football coach Jeff Chudy coached his son, Bryce, back in 2007.

That year Chudy was named Coach of the Year and led the Renegades to a 12-1 record, winning the Western State Conference.

Tim holds a strong belief that a father should allow his son to make certain life choices on his own, with the game of baseball being no different.

“At a young age, you don’t know if baseball’s going to become a passion for them,” Tim said.

“And I never wanted to direct him in a direction of having to play baseball.”

But Tyler did indeed decide to make baseball a major part of his life, and he doesn’t plan on that changing any time soon.

“I want to continue playing baseball, or at least being involved with baseball as long as I can,” Tyler said of his aspirations after BC.

“So whether it’s playing at the next level in college, playing professionally, or even coaching at some point, I just want to stay involved.”