CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Hayden Hurst was working in the bullpen for the Pittsburgh Pirates instructional league team in the fall of 2014 when his fastball sailed over the catcher and into the fence. He dropped his glove on the mound, walked into the clubhouse and began to cry.
Uncontrollably.
Hurst knew then that his baseball career was over. He couldn't overcome the yips that had plagued him for three years.
Scott Elarton, Pittsburgh's special assistant for baseball operations who was the pitching coach for the Gulf Coast League Pirates at the time, knew it too.