Raiders Fan

I guess I'm missing something. All I continue to read on BGP is how Ryle is full of Dad's on the coaching staff. I really would like for someone to provide a list of these Dads. In my experience with the program I am only aware of one dad and from what I could tell he was very well respected by coaches, parents and most importantly players. Neither he nor his son is associated with the program any longer. In regard to Coach Engler, I don't know a thing about him but gladly welcome him to the program. Coach Woolf is a great guy and would have likely done a pretty good job. I for one won't miss Coach Warner. Quite frankly I think the program suffered from too many chiefs and not enough indians. From my view I saw some serious issues with the program. Let me ask this question... how many high school football teams have had to call the police and have a kid tazed during one of their practices? Just sayin.

It is my feeling that showcases/camps are as you say... somewhere in between. There are an endless number of them as you have become aware. My feeling is that if a kid is good enough to play at the next level he will be 'seen' even without attending any showcases/camps. It has been my personal experience that players get more exposure from summer ball and summer tournaments. I also shelled out a fair amount of cash for showcases/camps and have no definitive proof that any contact came from it. On the other hand, there were a number of contacts that resulted from tournament play. It is also my feeling that college/university sponsored showcases/camps are better than for profit company showcases/camps.

Or Dad (Coaches) make every attempt to develop the skills of kids that have no interest in playing the game and are only there because their parents think is is the thing to do. Furthermore, it is very apparent that these same kids do not touch a baseball, bat, glove or any other baseball equipment except at practice and game time. I was a Dad who regularly tossed ball and threw BP with my kid outside of regulary scheduled practice to help enhance the education he was getting from his coaches. It was very apparent which kids had a genuine interest in the game and which ones didn't. I personally didn't see the same disparity in the select program. Now, before I hurt someone's feelings... I KNOW THAT SOME KIDS PLAY KNOTHOLE AND ARE VERY GOOD PLAYERS. IMHO and from my personal experience there were more kids with little or no interest in the game within the knothole organization and less in the select programs. Kudos to those that had a different experience. Again, to each his own.

Sorry... perhaps I wasn't clear enough. I didn't mean to say no knothole team(s) in general... I only meant the team on which my kid played. My point being that from what I can tell more kids make HS teams that come from select teams versus knothole teams. With that said I wonder if this is a result of talent/skills (learned of natural) or just simply a result that perhaps more kids play select than knothole. Geesh give a guy a break! EDIT... I do believe that both SS Tyler Lonneman and 2B Jackson Brennan played for the Northern Kentucky Panthers and played in the SWOL. Not to say they didn't start out playing knothole as t-ballers or some earlier age but at some age it appears they transitioned to a select team.

It would be interesting to see the statistics of how many HS baseball players play(ed) in select programs vs. the knothole organization. I do personally know talented kids that have come from both programs. I know from my own experience that my son plateaued at a relatively early age in the knothole organization. Given the limited number of scheduled games he ended up playing an average of about ten games per year. Most of the other kids on the team had little or no interest in further developing their personal skills and were only there because it was the thing to do in the Spring. The coaches can only do so much for kids that want to develop especially when more than half the team has no interest. I finally came to realize that the knothole organization was more of a social program than a competitive program. We made the decision to leave the knothole program and find a spot on a select team. I am not aware of any kid from the knothole team that went on to play HS ball. On the other hand, 90% of the select kids did go on to play HS ball. To each his own!

Ryle's loss is certainly Cooper's gain. Congrats to Coach Collins!

Hats off and a big Hoorah to the 2013 Ryle Raiders. As predicted by some yet scoffed by others they played as a team and claimed the 9th Region Championship title. Early polls certainly did not reflect the talent, dedication and hard work that this team puts toward the game. Their current 32-7 record is a far cry better than the ‘might make it over .500’ claims early on in the season. Great job to ALL of the players and to the coaches for a job well done. Whether you’re an everyday player, bullpen catcher, designated hitter, pinch/courtesy runner, relief pitcher, guy that keeps the book or younger guy awaiting your chance to get in the game… you all are part of the TEAM we calls Ryle Raiders! Your work is not done. The 32-7 record is now reset to 0-0 with the rest of the Regional Champs. Continue doing what you’re doing and hopefully you will realize your dream. This is something you will remember the rest of your life. #RTS #RWS (Ryle Win State) Congratulations and best wishes to all of the other 9th Region teams. This is one tough region with many talented teams, players and coaches. Each and every team is certainly capable of beating one another 'any given day.'

From my recollection Dixie Height's Sophomore Kerns got the start in the last game between these two teams and if memory serves the game was pretty close until the last inning when Ryle's bats came to life. I'm not sure about the depth of Dixie's pitching but wouldn't be surprised if Kerns is called upon again in this games. I would suspect Ryle's Senior Tyler Mason will probably get the start and will be relieved by Junior Ethan Brennan if need be. If Ryle continues to put the ball in play as they have in the Regional Tourney so far then I see them coming away with the win.

I believe he did indeed have an ImPACT test but have not heard the results. And no he is not a football player. He is a one sport guy. Knowing him and his family I am confident they will listen to the experts and resume play once cleared to do so and not a moment sooner.

Props to St Henry's Alex Conradi on two doubles that he crushed off the left field wall... The second one almost cleared the fence! Impressive performance by Mitch Kuebbing too!

While I agree the strike zone expansion/contraction seemed to be called fairly against both teams it was apparently difficult on the players. As a batter the kids weren't sure what to swing at as balls were called strikes and strikes were called balls. The pitchers seemed less than satisfied as well, as if the mound condition, due to the rain, weren't enough to deal with. If I were pitching it would have been difficult for me not to walk to the plate and ask for a description of the strike zone as it magically moved up, down, in and out. Kudos to the Conner crew for the attempts to keep the mound at least playable enough and prevent the pitchers from doing the splits as they strode toward the plate.

I'm pretty sure the base runner is charged with avoiding contact when the defensive player has the ball. In this situation... the way the ball arrived at first base caused the first baseman to lean into path of the runner almost simultaneously with the runners arrival at the base. I had my eye on the ump the entire time and he immediately raised his arm to indicate the out, followed that up with a signal of the ejection and then made a motion where he crossed his arm to indicate a pushing motion from the runner. So I guess from his point of view he felt the runner went too hard into first base and attempted to push the first baseman at the same time. If this were the case then ejection is probably warranted. IMHO the play happened so quickly and in such a manner that it would have been too hard to call it intentional on part of the runner. I could very easily see the runner raising his arms/hands knowing he was getting ready to 'truck' the first baseman. It would only be natural IMO if for no other reason than self-preservation. The right call probably should have been runner out with incidental/accidental contact... no need for ejection. But as usual, hindsight is 20/20. In any case, it was a good game to watch. Errors on both teams certainly had an effect on the score and without errors who knows what the turn out would have been. Ryle needs to tighten up what has been, up to this point, a pretty solid defense if they want to realize their dream. Congrats to Ryle... Good luck to Coach Bieger in whatever he does next... Good luck to all of the graduating seniors! Go Raiders!

I don't want to come off sounding like Ryle wasn't looking for a win, I'm just saying I don't think they didn't put their best foot forward. IMO this is evident in the manner in which Ryle mixed up the pitching to the degree they did. Now, another member pegged it when they said this doesn't excuse Ryle's offensive hitting performance. As I stated in a previous post, I was disappointed in Ryle's hitting. There was more than one kid to go down looking at a third strike. I also seem to remember Ryle having a runner on third with one or less outs and yet the runner was left stranded. Overall, Ryle's offense looked flat to me. These kinds of situations certainly don't help put a W in the win/loss column. I'm quite sure Coach Roesel wanted a win and I'm quite sure the players did too. But I think they all realize the importance of beating HHS in the last regular season game versus beating Cooper at Conner on Monday night. But understand this, HHS played a very good game. Their offensive performance was very good as was their pitching and overall defensive performance. You certainly can't discount momentum, epsecially going into post season play. I for one would have rather seen a the W in Ryle's W/L column but am not so upset to think that the loss will prevent the team from going the distance. Go Raiders!!

I would have to agree with this. Ryle threw quite a few pitchers including CF Thomas Baumann who hasn't thrown a pitch in a game situation all year. I think Coach Roesel was just trying to keep some arms loose going into tournament time. Now I will say I was a little disappointed in the hitting performance or lack thereof. Ryle is a much better offensive team than what they demonstrated in this game. Highlands on the other hand seemed to find all the holes and demonstrated a much better hitting performance. I don't have the stats at hand but would guess the number of hits to be VERY lopsided in favor of the Birds.

The defense is looking pretty darn good too. Seniors Dylan Plvan (3B) and Tyler Lonnemann (SS) have made some real web gems recently. The outfield is strong with the likes of Juniors Mason Forbes (LF) and Eric Clarkson (RF) and Senior Thomas Baumann in center. Ryle's defense hasn't been allowing many runs this year. The young men just need to keep their heads on straight and play ball to be successful. Oh yeah and not to leave out Senior Jackson Brennan at second base. The kid is about as fundamentally sound as they come.