Final-5 innings

Solid performanace again by Raiders, who are showing they have some pitching, defense, and hitting.

 

Joe Renda pitches four shutout innings, which is a big plus for Ryle. He throws hard and has a nice curve. Control has sometimes been an issue for him in the past, but if he throws strikes like he has done so far this year, he could very possibly be a top 12 pitcher in NKY and that would be huge for Ryle.

 

Lots of hitting for Ryle tonight, but Cody Meier deserves special mention, as he is absolutely crushing the ball every single at bat. He probably has 12-14 AB's in preseason and Ryle's first two games and hasn't had an at bat yet where he didn't rope the ball. If he keeps it up - and granted it would be tough for anyone to keep up this pace - he is easily a POY candidate.

 

Lastly, I can't understand Coach Terrell's thinking in the use of his second reliever in this game. Still a fairly tight 3-0 ballgame in the 3rd with a couple of guys on base, and he brings in a reliever who I believe walked 6 of the first 7 guys he faced and frankly wasn't even close to the plate. Best guess is that he threw maybe 5 or 6 strikes total to these 7 hitters. By the time he was pulled what was a close ballgame was a blowout. I guess maybe if they had no other pitching whatsoever to throw, but to just watch this kid walk hitter after hitter after hitter was very curious to say the least.

 

 

 

Lastly, I can't understand Coach Terrell's thinking in the use of his second reliever in this game. Still a fairly tight 3-0 ballgame in the 3rd with a couple of guys on base, and he brings in a reliever who I believe walked 6 of the first 7 guys he faced and frankly wasn't even close to the plate. Best guess is that he threw maybe 5 or 6 strikes total to these 7 hitters. By the time he was pulled what was a close ballgame was a blowout. I guess maybe if they had no other pitching whatsoever to throw, but to just watch this kid walk hitter after hitter after hitter was very curious to say the least.

 

Walt has the reputation of letting guys sink or swim in a game that doesn't mean anything. So it may have cost them this game but he may have simply been seeing what the kid can do and letting him pitch and learn.

Walt has the reputation of letting guys sink or swim in a game that doesn't mean anything. So it may have cost them this game but he may have simply been seeing what the kid can do and letting him pitch and learn.

 

Except the kid was a senior that also plays for his summer team and with whom he is already very familiar.

 

And I'm not sure I agree with the "game doesn't mean anything" concept. They all mean something. And letting 8 guys stand out there and the team get taken out of the game while the pitcher was absolutely nowhere near the plate for 15 minutes just seems odd to me.

Except the kid was a senior that also plays for his summer team and with whom he is already very familiar.

 

And I'm not sure I agree with the "game doesn't mean anything" concept. They all mean something. And letting 8 guys stand out there and the team get taken out of the game while the pitcher was absolutely nowhere near the plate for 15 minutes just seems odd to me.

 

If they all meant something you would never play your subs.

If they all meant something you would never play your subs.

 

There is a big difference between saying they don't mean "anything" and they mean "something". I'm just not a big believer that a game means absolutely nothing. You find out what your team is made of when you play good, quality teams. That doesn't mean you can't play subs or that it's a "must win" and you have to go all out. I just don't see the value of taking a close game and letting it turn into a run-rule while you watch a pitcher throw nowhere close to the plate. And, trust me, he was nowhere close.

Coop I have watched Walt coach a lot of games and I can tell you that what happened today, doesn't surprise me one bit. He believes in giving you the ball and just watching how you handle it.

If they all meant something you would never play your subs.

 

Ok, so what if the sub comes in and strikes out the side in the situation described above... I guess that doesn't mean anything? :idunno:

Coop I have watched Walt coach a lot of games and I can tell you that what happened today, doesn't surprise me one bit. He believes in giving you the ball and just watching how you handle it.

 

But again, this is a player that he knows well. What exactly was he learning from it, other than to test his fielder's patience levels? And if the case was as you say (watching how you handle it), then why not make the struggling pitcher finish the inning (there were two outs when he was pulled)? It is so hard to stand out in the field and keep your focus as the pitcher walks batter after batter. I'm sure Coach Terrell has forgotten more baseball than I'll ever know, but this one just made me curious. And I can't help but wonder what the thoughts are of any of the St. Henry fans in attendance.

There is a big difference between saying they don't mean "anything" and they mean "something". I'm just not a big believer that a game means absolutely nothing. You find out what your team is made of when you play good, quality teams. That doesn't mean you can't play subs or that it's a "must win" and you have to go all out. I just don't see the value of taking a close game and letting it turn into a run-rule while you watch a pitcher throw nowhere close to the plate. And, trust me, he was nowhere close.

 

If you thought letting him continue to pitch would help your team later in the year would you do it even if he had no clue where the plate was?

Ok, so what if the sub comes in and strikes out the side in the situation described above... I guess that doesn't mean anything? :idunno:

 

It means the kid pitched well. My point is that sometimes development of a player, even if its costly for a particular game, has more value than playing to win THIS one game. There are games when you can do that. There are games where you can't. In Walt's mind this might have been one he can afford to lose while he's letting a kid work it out.

It means the kid pitched well. My point is that sometimes development of a player, even if its costly for a particular game, has more value than playing to win THIS one game. There are games when you can do that. There are games where you can't. In Walt's mind this might have been one he can afford to lose while he's letting a kid work it out.

 

Understood, and my point is subs don't play a part in just games where your way behind or way ahead, which you seemed to imply earlier in the thread.

Understood, and my point is subs don't play a part in just games where your way behind or way ahead, which you seemed to imply earlier in the thread.

 

If I seemed to imply that I was 180 degrees off of my intention. IMO too many high school coaches have a narrow view and play to win THIS GAME at all costs. A coach with a long-term view and a coach interested in development will take the chance of losing a game in exchange for getting a sub ABs or putting the sub in a tight spot in order to get them ready to help them in meaningful games down the road.

If you thought letting him continue to pitch would help your team later in the year would you do it even if he had no clue where the plate was?

 

Absolutely. My point is simply that the pitcher crossed the line of being able to "work it out" well before he was removed. Obviously Walt feels there is a breaking point also given the fact that he removed the pitcher after 9 or 10 batters and before the inning ended. I was just of the opinion (as I'm sure were others) that was far too many batters for this pitcher to face. Letting a player "work through problem" and still keeping yourself competitive in the current game are not mutually exclusive concepts.

 

And frankly, it just makes for a ridiculous high school game to watch someone be that wild and continue to be allowed to pitch. I can see if the pitcher was throwing strikes and getting hit hard and your point is to get them to mix up pitches better or work down lower in the zone, but just didn't quite understand letting someone walk that many hitters and turning the game into a blowout.

So far in the first couple of games I have been impressed watching Ryle's younger starters (notably juniors Ryan Donovan, Logan Carney and sophmores Conner Hempel, Caleb Lonkard). All of them have displayed solid fielding skills and I like their approach at the plate, you can see them learning every at-bat. Lonkard has started the year red hot and it was nice to see Carney break out with a couple of nice shots last night. I see why these young men won the JV Regional champaionship last year.