BINGHAM — Linah Davy was first in line to get an autograph from Cody Laweryson. A 2018 graduate of Valley High, Davy was two years behind Laweryson. She held the 2016 Valley yearbook, opened to Laweryson’s senior picture.

Of course he was wearing a baseball glove in that senior portrait. 

“Him and his family are probably the most humble, nicest people I know,” Davy said. “He was always friendly.”

Just a few weeks ago, on Sept. 13, Laweryson, 27, made his major league debut, running out of the Minnesota Twins bullpen to pitch in relief against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Saturday afternoon, less than a week since the end of the regular season, he was back home, in the gym where he helped Valley win a Class D basketball state championship in 2016, where he plans to throw all winter to make sure those five September games aren’t all there is of his big league career.

“I kind of just viewed it as an audition, to see if I could make the team out of spring training next year,” Laweryson said. “I think I potentially proved enough to earn a spot, or at least earn a tryout next season at spring training.”

Laweryson definitely gave Twins management something to consider. In 7 2/3 innings spread over five games, Laweryson posted 1.17 earned run average and 0.52 WHIP. He struck out seven, didn’t walk a batter, and surrendered four hits. Opponents hit .167 off him.

A small sample size, sure, but a successful one. 

Growing up in the Moscow-Bingham area in the middle of Somerset County, with a combined population of around 1,300, the major leagues couldn’t feel farther away. These tiny twin cities aren’t the Twin Cities that Laweryson now calls his professional home, but they’re home, and probably boast the biggest per captia population of Twins fans outside of Minnesota. Numerous fans arrived either wearing a Laweryson Twins jersey, or carrying one for him to autograph.

It’s a million miles from the ballfield behind Valley High, where Laweryson first learned to harness the right arm that can throw fastballs over 90 miles per hour, to Target Field, where on Sept. 16, he pitched two innings against the New York Yankees. 

When you’re on the mound and Aaron Judge, the best hitter in baseball, stands in the batter’s box, you’re not thinking about where you’re from. You’re thinking about where you are. 

“I could feel his presence from the on deck circle. I could see him out of the corner of my eye when I was throwing to (Trent Grisham). So, I tried not to make it bigger than it really was,” Laweryson said. 

Laweryson got Judge to ground out to third base on an 0-1 slider away. The pitch had to be in the perfect location, he said, and it was. 

Laweryson’s “Holy crap, I’m a big leaguer moment” came a few days earlier, when he made his first pregame walk to the bullpen. The next day, when called on in the seventh inning to face the Diamondbacks, running to the mound, that’s when it felt real.

It almost wasn’t. Laweryson’s road through the minor leagues was long, with numerous injury pit stops. Drafted out of the University of Maine by the Twins in the the 14th round in 2019, Laweryson lost a year of development in 2020 when the pandemic shut down minor league baseball. He reached Triple-A St. Paul in 2023, only to slide back to Double-A Wichita in 2024, where he struggled to throw strikes.

Of course he had doubts. Baseball is hard. Players are infinitely replaceable. Especially ones who have been in the minor leagues for six seasons.

“I went out this year and had a mentality change. I kind of went out there and pitched freely. I realized, I’ve accomplished a lot in my baseball career,” Laweryson said, jersey from each of his stops on the minor league journey hanging behind him in his old high school gym. “I hadn’t accomplished the ultimate goal of being a big leaguer, but I knew I could go out there and have fun and whatever happened, happened. I think that mentality change was the main driver of me ultimately having a great year and making my major league debut.” 

Laweryson’s fastball sits at 93, 94. He knows with work this offseason, he can make it sit 96, 97. That would make it harder for the Twins to send him back to Triple-A next spring. It would mean the Twins could consider using him in high leverage, late-game situations.

Luke Hartwell coached Laweryson when he played basketball for Valley. He had a front row seat to the fire needed to make the big leagues.

“His work ethic I saw on the basketball court, you could see it translating to other sports as well. What’s he’s done… gives hope to future generations around here,” Hartwell said.

Saturday afternoon, that was stuff Laweryson can think about later. Now, it was about greeting the town that supported him throughout the journey to The Show, and to say thanks.