Raiders Fan

I believe the City of Florence did front the +/- $1M to make the change from dirt/grass to the artificial surface that is currently in place. I also believe the City of Florence Public Service Department handles most of the grounds maintenance around the facility. I did see a City of Florence crew mulching, etc. in the planting beds adjacent to the parking area and the interstate this past Saturday. I don't believe the City puts out any money toward team operations, that is all on Mr Brown and company.

It really depends on the situation to me. How good is the kid at bunting? How many outs are there? Who's due up next if the bunt is successful? I guess my thought is that two strikes should not automatically negate the bunt and force it to be called off. I've seen some pretty good two strike bunts.

Senior lefty Tyle Mason pitched the first six innings and was relieved by Senior righty Drew Crane. I don't have the stats on either but feel Mason threw pretty well. He did have a few breaking balls that went into the dirt but IMO he looked pretty solid overall. I wouldn't say he shut Conner down by any stretch but between good defense and offense at the right time Ryle came away with the win.

I'll weigh in... Apparently, as a Radiers Fan I'm not going to complain about a win. I will say that Cooper was not without their share of errors in the game. Furthermore, some of these errors lead to the score being tilted toward Ryle vs Cooper. But with that said I will not discount the Ryle players and their overall performance. Ryle moved players around the bases when needed and scored them when they could. Cooper loaded the bases on more than one occasion with less than two outs and were unable to put more than one run across the plate in the process. Was this poor offensive performance on their part or good defensive performance on Ryle's part, or vice versa? What's the difference, the result was the same? Ryle started Mitchell See and Cooper started Jake Lawhorn. IMO pitching was relatively equal at least from a starting standpoint. As far as I'm concerned, both teams entered the game with the same mindset... not a district seeding game so let's not throw our ace. But I'm quite certain that neither team played to lose. So I'll gladly congratulate the Raiders as they move to 8-0. I hope they all get a good night sleep and dream about beating the two tough opponents, namely Covington Catholic and Conner that they will face when the sun comes up tomorrow. Any given Sunday!!

I generally agree with the sentiment that without knowing who is pitching anything is a guess at this point. I'm looking for CCH to win over Conner. CCH has played a fairly tough schedule thus far and should be more than prepared to beat the boys from Hebron. I'm actually quite surprised by Conner's perfomance this year. Early talk indicated they would be very tough with Maines, Price, Smiley and of course Fogle. But quite frankly they've failed to impress this fan so far. Not to say they won't be there at the end of the season because I'm sure they'll settle into a groove and be living up to early expectations. They were/are ranked #2 in the pre-season coaches poll and NKYFAN poll. Not that polls are all that... just sayin. I'll take Ryle over Cooper because I really believe that Ryle is very strong both offensively and defensively regardless of who is on the mound. Some might say Ryle has yet to be tested this year. I don't necessarily agree with that but I'm sure there are some thinking that way. I would think that this weekend should tell the story. In any case, a 7-0 start is pretty impressive IMO. I feel Boone County and St Henry are pretty evenly matched and I'm looking for a very close game. Of all of the games I think this one has the best chance of being a pitcher's duel. I'll take St Henry as they seem to be playing well recently winning four of the last five games as opposed to Boone County losing four of their last five. Some would argue that Boone County faced a tougher schedule of teams, which may be right, but St Henry's winning momentum might be harder to overcome. I'm liking what I'm hearing and seeing out of Beechwood. From what I'm hearing Combs, Stringer and Suchanek are already doing very well this year. I've only seen them firsthand during the preseason but liked what I saw. I'm looking for another close one here but I'll take Beechwood over Holy Cross. So I'll agree with Old_Bulldog and say... CCH, Ryle, St Henry, Beechwood

Senior Tanner Pulice gets the win in this one after going 6-2/3 innings. Ryle remains undefeated and advances to 7-0.

Ryle jumped to an early 6-0 lead in the first inning of this game on a three run RBI by Thomas Baumann and a three run homerun by Dylan Plvan. Starting pitcher Junior Josh Bellew got the win in this shutout.

Ryle moves to 5-0 on the year with this win over Walton-Verona. Ryle hosts Bryan Station tomorrow night at home.

Ryle and Dixie played this evening at Ryle. The outfield was still pretty wet but they went ahead and played. The infield wasn't as wet so I'm guessing the infield had been tarped earlier in the week but I'm not certain about that. I believe the outfield usually hold water more than the infield anyway.

In addition to the 4 homeruns, Thomas Baumann (Ryle) also set the school record for triples in a season with 7.

Did I hear that Kevin Peddicord (St Henry) is playing at Hanover College?

Would one of the Beechwood fans/players identify the kid that pitched the last inning during yesterday's Beechwood/Ryle Varsity scrimmage? Of all of the pitching during yesterday's outing I will give props to that particular kid. Nothing against any of the other pitching as all had some pluses and minuses but all and all the last Beechwood pitcher put up a good showing... IMHO.

I like Justin Hoard and Josh Bellew at Ryle. Neither are known for their speed but both of these kids have some pretty good stuff and can move the ball around the plate. IMO their strongest asset is their ability to remain cool on the mound. I've watched both of them pitch on several occasions and don't recall one time that they appeared rattled or overly upset when a call didn't go their way. They are both good solid players that can get the job done.

Looking at the 2012 Team Photo on the Ryle Baseball Website there were 23 Varsity players. Eight of the 23 players graduated so the remaining 15 are mainly Seniors this year. Graduates included Leiff Clarkson, Comora, Mark Downs, Ernst, Hughes, Lawson, Long, and Winchester. Ryle did graduate some very good talent (especially in the pitching position) but should backfill nicely with players like Bellew, Cordrey, Jeremy Downs, Forbes and Welsh to name a few.

I'll admit I'm probably biased but... I think Ryle is going to be a force of their own this year. If you look back in time... this year's senior class won the region as Freshman. During the same year five freshman were moved up and regularly started on the JV team. This year they will all be playing together in addition to any Junior's that may make the Varisity cut. I'll just say this... I would like to have the problem Coach Roessel has... aka a lot of talent. But I wouldn't like to be in his shoes on making the decision of who gets cut. Personally, I think Ryle will go far this year. I certainly don't want to jynx them but I think the region is their's to lose. IMO... again, maybe biased but there's a lot of talent and a good coaching staff to boot. I'll enjoy watching the games from what appears by most to be an 'underdog' position.

You may want to check out these two teams... Kentucky Arenal 17U Kentucky Arsenal 2012 Welcome Kentucky Arsenal is a team based out of Union that is made up of mainly Ryle High School Varsity and Junior Varsity players but does include a few other players from other local high schools. At The Yard Roosters Home At The Yard Roosters is based out of Northern Kentucky and is coached by St Henry Coach Bob Mullins. The team is made up of some of the top Northern Kentucky high school baseball players. Representative high schools and kids include Beechwood (Brils, Smith), Bishop Brossart (Fardo), Boone County (Teegarden, Ganns), Conner (Smiley), CovCath (Pope), Lloyd (Brown, Rogers), Ryle (Baumann, Mason), Newport (Merrill), and St Henry (Peddicord) just to name a few.

I wasn't at the BB/HC game and don't have a dog in the fight. But I find this an interesting thread, especially since its funny to hear this umpire perspective reported in the thread. I was at a game recently where the batter made no attempt to avoid a HBP and was awarded first base. The opposing coach approached the plate umpire to plead the case that the batter needs to make an attempt to avoid being hit. The plate umpire stated "The rule says the batter shall not permit a pitched ball to touch him but that the batter doesn't have to make an attempt to avoid being hit." WHAT?? I mean come on, how is there any logic in a statement like that? The things that make you say, hmmm.

Don't recall who threw for Beechwood but the kid (starter) threw a lot of breaking balls... too many in this fans opinion. Ryle started Jr Mitch See, brought in Sr Brian Ernst and finished with Jr Thomas Baumann. Beechwood hitters generally brought their 'A' game and found all the holes. The score pretty much tells the story.

Congrats Travis!! Looking forward to watching you and the rest of the guys this fall. Keep up the hard work!