Ryle 1 Cooper 0

[cooperstown]

First round score in District 33 Tournament. Game was played in 90 minutes.

 

An absolutely fascinating pitcher's duel between Downs from Ryle and Collins for Cooper. Both pitchers were outstanding. In the end, however, Downs was simply off the charts, striking out either 17 or 18 (not sure) Cooper hitters, including the side in the 7th. Ryle plates their only run in the 5th on four straight singles, but misses out on a chance to add more runs when a suicide attempt was popped up and Cooper turned a double play. Cooper only threatened one time against Downs, when he gave up a hit and two walks to load the bases, but otherwise he was dominant. Not that Collins wasn't. First time I have seen him pitch - he's very, very good. I'm told he's a junior and, if so, will undoubtedly be in the running for top pitcher in the region next year and may very well find himself on the winning side of a 1-0 district game.

[Solomon]

WOW!!!!! This score is quite surprising. Sounds like Cooper was one hit away from pulling a huge upset.

[Spartan79]

Where's the 33rd being played?

[Clyde]

Where's the 33rd being played?

 

Cooper

[cooperstown]

Downs is one of the better pitchers to come along in NKY in several years. I liken him to Isler in his senior year at CCH (Isler was pretty much untouchable). He now has a 9-1 record on the year (only loss was 3-1 to St. X), has an ERA of 1.00, and 75 K's in 63 innings. And has earned these stats pitching against the likes of #3 St. X, #11 Bryan Station, #13 Danville, #18 Bullitt East, #24 Boone County, Milford, Conner, and Campbell County. Pretty solid opposition. Guess there's a reason why he was recruited at the high D1 level.

[Porky]

Wow, I am surprised by this score. Great job to both teams and congrats to Ryle on the victory.

[Clyde]

Downs is one of the better pitchers to come along in NKY in several years. I liken him to Isler in his senior year at CCH (Isler was pretty much untouchable). He now has a 9-1 record on the year (only loss was 3-1 to St. X), has an ERA of 1.00, and 75 K's in 63 innings. And has earned these stats pitching against the likes of #3 St. X, #11 Bryan Station, #13 Danville, #18 Bullitt East, #24 Boone County, Milford, Conner, and Campbell County. Pretty solid opposition. Guess there's a reason why he was recruited at the high D1 level.

 

Agreed. Even more stunning is that he weighs about 140 or 150 pounds. Dude is thin.

 

18 Ks is crazy.

[goallout25]

Downs doesn't throw as hard as I thought he would. Not that he throws soft or anything, but his changeup is what helps him rack up those strikeout totals and miss bats. Once he fills out, the velocity will increase and that changeup should be even more effective for him.

 

He is definitely fun to watch work though.

[cooperstown]

Downs doesn't throw as hard as I thought he would. Not that he throws soft or anything, but his changeup is what helps him rack up those strikeout totals and miss bats. Once he fills out, the velocity will increase and that changeup should be even more effective for him.

 

He is definitely fun to watch work though.

 

He doesn't throw soft, that's for certain. I thought he was absolutely bringing it last night. A couple weeks ago he was gunned at Midland (Ryle played Milford there) throwing 85-86 mph. I don't personally think he was throwing that hard earlier in the year, but seems to have gotten stronger as the season progressed.

 

He throws both his curveball and changeup for strikes. What ultimately makes him so tough, however, is that he lives - and I mean he absolutely lives - at the knees. He also has a terrific demeanor on the mound - kid doesn't seem to get bothered by anything.

[goallout25]

He doesn't throw soft, that's for certain. I thought he was absolutely bringing it last night. A couple weeks ago he was gunned at Midland (Ryle played Milford there) throwing 85-86 mph. I don't personally think he was throwing that hard earlier in the year, but seems to have gotten stronger as the season progressed.

 

He throws both his curveball and changeup for strikes. What ultimately makes him so tough, however, is that he lives - and I mean he absolutely lives - at the knees. He also has a terrific demeanor on the mound - kid doesn't seem to get bothered by anything.

 

I would agree 100%. The times I've seen him get in trouble when he pitches are when he gets the ball up (but that's the case with any pitcher from high school all the way to the Bigs). And as you said, you'd never know how the game is going by looking at him.

 

With a lot of room to grow and what he gets out of what he has now, I'd say he's got what you'd call a "high upside." Being left handed doesn't hurt either.

[hja1224]

Cooper came in with a team batting average of .253 on the season and only two players hit above .300, against their toughest season scheule in their four year history, so I figured it would be tough to score without a couple of errors or walks by Ryle. The problem was the boys couldn't give Ryle a chance to make any errors. Most of the kids had a good approach against a tough pitcher by swinging at the first pitch fastball strike. Some fouled that pitch and others just missed. The change-up is the key pitch for Downs as it comes out of the same arm slot with the same arm motion as his mid 80's fastball but then drops off the table. Very impressive performance!!

 

AJ Collins was equally impressive and the best performance I've seen from him, including his no-hitter last week against Boyd County. I thought Cooper under achieved most of the year defensively but they played error free ball last night. Cooper has their entire pitching back next year and seven starters return so I look for more wins next year.

 

I've seen Ryle 4 times this year and they don't seem to hit as well as years past but they have pitching and enough solid players to make a run. Good luck the rest of the season.

[StraightShooter]

What a great pitcher's duel. Hard to believe Cooper only won 9 games the way they played yesterday. Pitching is huge so no surprise with 2 superbly pitched games. Congrats to Ryle on surviving and Cooper on playing a great game.

[Jimmy Olson]

What a great pitcher's duel. Hard to believe Cooper only won 9 games the way they played yesterday. Pitching is huge so no surprise with 2 superbly pitched games. Congrats to Ryle on surviving and Cooper on playing a great game.

 

Cooper's pitching from what I understand has been really solid this year for the most part. Defense let them down quite a bit this year.

[Clyde]

I checked out the Conner Boone game at Cooper. First time being at Cooper in about 3 years. Field looks really good. Nice place to watch a game as well.

 

Hats off to Bieger and crew.