Some friendships are built over years. Others are built over a shared love, long days spent together, and the fun moments in between.

For Dave “Tyke” Tykoski and Tom Succow, it was all of those things.

The two Arizona coaches first knew of each other from across the baseball field. Succow was the longtime head coach at Brophy College Preparatory in Phoenix, while Tykoski coached at Dobson High School in Mesa. They competed against each other, developing a mutual respect before USA Baseball eventually brought them together nearly two decades ago.

Their friendship, however, truly took shape through the Task Force, where they spent many hours together driving from field to field, evaluating players, and talking baseball.

The friendship simply grew from there.

“We just hit it off more and more,” Succow said. “Our friendship has developed, so we try to request every summer that we work the same weeks, that we room together.”

Tykoski remembers one summer in the early 2000s when he wasn’t initially scheduled to work with USA Baseball. He asked if he could join the Task Force simply to learn how the group evaluated players. He was welcomed in, and when the group began assigning members to different scouting groups, Succow volunteered to take him along.

“I knew of him because he was the head coach at Brophy. But I had never really sat down and talked with him, never really met him before,” Tykoski said. “And so that’s where it kind of started.”

The two spent that summer driving between facilities in Succow’s truck, talking baseball and getting to know one another. For Tykoski, who had joined simply to learn the process, Succow made him feel like he belonged.

“He made me feel so welcome, and I was just like, okay, and he made me feel like I was part of the Task Force, even when I really wasn’t at the time,” Tykoski said.

That gesture became the foundation for a friendship that would extend well beyond the ballpark.

The two quickly discovered they shared the same sense of humor and an appreciation for simply enjoying the game. Conversations that started with baseball eventually turned toward family, coaching, and life outside the field.

“We just kind of gravitate towards each other, and we just have fun,” Tykoski said. “We would talk, and we’d joke around, and then, you know how that goes. You start sharing stories between, you know, well, how’s your family? How’s my family?”

For Succow, the friendship grew because of the same qualities he saw in Tykoski from the beginning.

“Even keel, being even keeled, keeping it fun,” Succow said when asked what he has learned from Tykoski over the years. “And I think a lot of kids miss out on that because they’re so stressed out in terms of trying to impress.”

Those qualities have become a defining part of their relationship. Each summer, the two try to request the same weeks working with USA Baseball at the National Team Championships in Arizona, and when they can, they room together.

“We have a lot of laughs, a lot of fun, and talk about a lot of baseball stuff,” Succow said. “ We have so much respect for USA Baseball and how it’s impacted both of our lives and our coaching.”

The Task Force itself has become a constant throughout their careers.

Task Force members are responsible for evaluating players at USA Baseball events, bringing together different perspectives and experiences to help identify athletes who could eventually represent the United States on a national team. For the members, the responsibility is about more than simply identifying talent.

“We’re the evaluators,” Tykoski said. “We evaluate the players, try to put together the best team possible, the best group of guys that make the best team possible to go on to win gold medals.”

Succow approaches the process with a similar mindset.

“It all begins for a lot of us out in Arizona, doing the Task Force and evaluating players,” Succow said. “Evaluating their skills, their talent level, if it’s compatible with being a USA Baseball player.”

For Succow, the evaluation process begins with a simple question.

“Do I see him wearing a USA Baseball uniform in the future?” he said. “That’s kind of big with me.”

Over the years, Succow has served USA Baseball in a number of roles, including managing the 2004 16U and 2007 14U National Teams and serving as an assistant coach for the 2003 16U and 2010 18U National Teams. His last trip to the National Training Complex came as part of that 2010 18U staff, a team that included future Major League stars like Francisco Lindor and Albert Almora Jr.

Succow’s commitment to USA Baseball has always been rooted in something bigger than baseball itself. During his 42 years at Brophy, he embraced the school’s “men for others” philosophy, an idea he carried with him into his work with USA Baseball.

“The idea of serving others, being a man for others, has even been magnified with my time at USA Baseball and serving this organization,” Succow said. “That’s so important to me.”

Sixteen years later, his return to Cary for the 2026 National Team Identification Series (NTIS) Champions Cup gave Succow a chance to return to a place filled with memories and reconnect with the people who made them.

“I still look forward to being invited, and I’m honored to be invited to work this week for the NTIS [Champions Cup],” Succow said. “Working for USA Baseball, Champs West. It’s just a great honor for myself.”

That longevity is part of what makes the Task Force special. Members bring different levels of experience, creating a balance between longtime USA Baseball evaluators and those experiencing the process for the first time.

For Succow, the strength of the Task Force comes from its shared purpose. He believes the best results come when everyone is working toward the same goal.

“I think our best weeks working, our best years working, is when the entire Task Force is all grouped and heading in the same direction for the same common purpose,” Succow said.

For Tykoski, who has spent many years with USA Baseball while also building a career as a coach and educator, the organization has always been more than a summer commitment.

“This is the best organization I’ve worked for,” Tykoski said. “The people here are incredible.”

That shared connection to USA Baseball is one of the reasons the friendship between Tykoski and Succow has remained so strong. They continue to return because of the people, the purpose, and the opportunity to give back to a game that has given them so much.

“We all share a common goal,” Tykoski said. “The game of baseball is bigger than any one of us. We love giving back to the game, and we love growing the game.”

That philosophy has shaped both of their coaching careers, but it has also shaped their friendship.

Tykoski points to Succow as one of the people who has most influenced how he treats his own players. One lesson, in particular, has stayed with him: Succow would shake his players’ hands after practice and thank them for their work.

“There’s people that talk about caring for their players,” Tykoski said. “And then there’s Tom Succow caring for his players.”

Tykoski loved that and adapted that into his own coaching routine.

“It’s awkward for college players to shake their coach’s hand,” Tykoski said with a laugh. “But I tell them, it doesn’t matter whether you’ve had a good day, bad day. I want to make sure they understand, and they know how much I appreciate and care for them.”

And while their influence on each other has extended into their coaching, their friendship has also simply made the long days and long summers more fun.

“That’s what Dave and I have, we just have a lot of fun together,” Succow said. “I am a lot older than Dave. I’m 75, he keeps me young,”

Almost 20 years after that first summer driving from field to field together, the two still find reasons to be in the same place. This summer, they traveled from Phoenix to Cary together for the NTIS Champions Cup, a trip that carried a little more weight for Succow.

“My time’s around the corner here, it’s coming too close, but being able to share this time with Dave is really important,” Succow said.

And for two longtime coaches, there is still no shortage of baseball to talk about, stories to share, or summers to spend together.