Conner finally shows it can hit against good pitching. Pugh had multiple hits, Brake hit well, as usual, and was intentionally walked a couple of times. Noll also hit well and was intentionally walked. Gill, Roberts and West did a great job getting on base. It was especially nice to see Shuttleworth starting to get healthy. He had multiple extra base hits and either 4 or 5 rbis as the DH. All this was done against Ryle's ace, Eschied.

 

Samad and Russell did a great job on the mound. Samad allows one run in each the 1st, 2nd and 6th. Russell pitches a scoreless 7th for the save.

In Etscheid's defense, I beleive all of Conner's runs were unearned. Not for one second am I implying that Conner did not hit the ball well - they absolutely did up and down the lineup - but a couple of Ryle errors were critical in opening the gates in the 4th and 5th innings. And Conner most certainly took advantage of those miscues.

 

Ryle is just not a team that can afford to be anything but almost perfect against a good team or good pitching. Because they are a very average hitting team, it requires them to receive almost flawless pitching and defense to make up for the lack of run production. And that is simply too much to ask for from high schoolers on a regular basis. Heck, it's too much to ask for from the pros. Every once in a while your hitting has to step up and take some pressure off the piching and defense and win a 9-8 game. Ryle really just doesn't have that ability right now against anything other than bad pitching.

 

Congrats to Conner. Again, they hit well and Samad did a nice job on the mound, as did Russell.

Conner vs. Boone County next Tuesday is going to be a fascinating game to decide the top spot in the district and all but assure the winner a place at regionals. Tough game to predict right now, but I think I might give a slight edge to Conner due to a deeper pitching staff, playing at home, and the return of Shuttlesworth.

The Conner/Boone game will be a continuation from the district seed game from a couple of weeks ago that was rain delayed. Top of the second, Conner batting and ahead 4-0.

Ryle chose the wrong two days to play Conner tough before this district seeding game. Ryle had a 2-0 lead going into the 4th in this game and didn't make the plays needed to win. If Ryle doesn't make a miscue with 2 men on and two outs in the the 4th up 2-0 this could have been a different game. Conner made Ryle pay for every mistake. I give due credit to Conner's pitching tonight, they threw a lot of strikes. Hitting is a huge issue right now, and has been all year for Ryle, and will continue unless some changes are made.

Edited April 29, 200917 yr by The Great Game

The Conner/Boone game will be a continuation from the district seed game from a couple of weeks ago that was rain delayed. Top of the second, Conner batting and ahead 4-0.

 

Oh . . . well then I definitely give the edge to Conner!! :sssh:

Conner vs. Boone County next Tuesday is going to be a fascinating game to decide the top spot in the district and all but assure the winner a place at regionals. Tough game to predict right now, but I think I might give a slight edge to Conner due to a deeper pitching staff, playing at home, and the return of Shuttlesworth.

 

This game, I believe, will be played at Boone not Conner. Shuttleworth's return to the Cougar's line-up added a huge burst in the order that Conner has been missing. Great to see the young man back and making some noise.:thumb: I can't wait to see him pitch again.

Whatever happened to Josh Friedel? Is he still at Ryle?

Ryle's taking some beating this year.

Whatever happened to Josh Friedel? Is he still at Ryle?

 

He has been injured for the whole season...I believe there is a chance he will be able to come back and hit before the season ends.

Ryle's taking some beating this year.

 

Really in just two games... Cov Cath the other night and Tates Creek in an errorfest. If you were at this game the 8-3 score really wasn't a beating, Connor took advantage of every Ryle miscue. Ryle was winning 2-0 into the 4th. They have played 5 games this year against teams rated in the top 15 in the state, and in 4 of those lost by 2 runs or less. Hitting has been a an issue for sure.

Conner also had its share of miscues, 3 times base runners on second base made huge outs, by awful decisions, only to be followed by a hit 2 of the 3 times! Isn't taking advantage of a teams mistakes how you play the game? :idunno:

Conner also had its share of miscues, 3 times base runners on second base made huge outs, by awful decisions, only to be followed by a hit 2 of the 3 times! Isn't taking advantage of a teams mistakes how you play the game? :idunno:

 

That is exactly what I am saying...Conner took advantage of Ryle's miscues and Ryle didn't take advantage. Also, as said earlier in the thread Conner deserved to win this game because they did what was needed at the key times, and yes that is how to play the game.

Ryle's taking some beating this year.

 

I would agree where it would appear they are on the downside of a good season at this point. However, I know these kids and I don't think they are playing to there full potential quite yet! The season still has some life in it and All Ryle needs to do is get to the Regionals. By then maybe the hitting bugs will be worked out. I'm sure Cooperstown is fit to be tied watching but he also knows what they can do! The question is..will they? I mean look at them position wise, they are a very solid team. Hope they can turn it around.

Really in just two games... Cov Cath the other night and Tates Creek in an errorfest. If you were at this game the 8-3 score really wasn't a beating, Connor took advantage of every Ryle miscue. Ryle was winning 2-0 into the 4th. They have played 5 games this year against teams rated in the top 15 in the state, and in 4 of those lost by 2 runs or less. Hitting has been a an issue for sure.

 

Actually, it's SIX games (#4 Tates Creek, 3 against #6 CCH, #7 Male, and #11 Trinity). Plus their losses up here in NKY have been against the better teams (Boone, Dixie, NCC, Conner). Granted, they need to start winning some of these games, especially the NKY games, but they have played a very strong schedule and been in every game except two, as GG noted. If two or three hitters can get hot in the final weeks, they'll be fine. Otherwise, the pitchers are going to be forced to throw sterling games.