cooperstown

Ryle run-rules Conner in 6 innings to win District 33 championship. Conner jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead after 2 innings, but it was all Ryle after that, as they absolutely crushed the ball in innings 3 through 6. Mitch Lawson gets the win for Ryle. Other than the second inning when he gave up a couple walks and hits (3 runs), he was in control the rest of the game.

A good general rule to follow, but not an absolute. You certainly have to take into some consideration the quality of your opponent and the overall the depth of your staff. If Newport would upset Highlands tonight and advance to the region, I'll bet there's a good chance some teams would go with their #2 pitcher.

And Lloyd. But the vast body of their work over the last few weeks has been pretty impressive. As far as their pitching staff, I don't know. But they just put up two TD's and two 2-point conversions on the board against Boone. Hit like that and you don't need a ton of pitching. :lol:

Sac bunt redemption opportunity.

Sounds like someone didn't get down a sac bunt.

Should be a terrific game tomorrow between Ryle and Conner. Conner has caught fire at the right time of year. Ryle will have their work cut out for them and need to bring their hitting sticks. I assume Nelson goes for Conner?

For a team that doesn't take their baseball serious, they certainly have a nice history of success.

I don't think Friday night is even an option - Freedom has a home game. I think it makes sense they will use Thursday night and if weather is a problem, move the game back to Friday early afternoon so as not to conflict with the Freedom game. The draw for the tournament is on Saturday, I believe.

Probably is correct, as the Freedom plays at home on Friday. Not to say a game couldn't be played there earlier in the day, but just guessing they'd schedule it for Thursday to avoid any potential conflict, as well as give them a safety net in the event of bad weather.

A little harsh. Pretty clear he made an error of judgement in doing the game and should have let the assignor know about the conflict, but it's not exactly the crime of the century. I know the guy a little bit - I don't think he was there to help ensure Ludlow would come out the winner. It certainly appears he made a mistake, but I just don't think it's an unforgiveable sin.

Coach Sanders knows a thing or two about effectively running a baseball team. Perhaps he could have a sit-down with the girls' softball coach and teach him a thing or fifty.

Maybe, but this issue tends to get minimized a bit playing at Freedom. Unless it's an all-day hard rain, they are generally going to be playing ball there as scheduled.

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 was told late last night the name of the umpire involved. I have always considered him a very good umpire and, although I can't claim to know him extremely well, a good guy as well. I just don't believe that he intentionally slanted calls in favor of Ludlow. That being said, he still should have recused himself from this game assignment knowing there was the appearance of a conflict of interest. I think what likely happened is that he made some close calls that just so happened to go against Villa and suddently this conflict of interest is now brought to the forefront. I don't disagree that it's a legitimate gripe for Villa fans, but truly don't believe this ump would intentionally bias his calls because of his nephew.

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.

Do you know for an absolute fact that the umpire was the shortstop's uncle or did they just have the same last name? If truly related, the assignor for the 9th Region made a serious mistake.

In all honesty, though, what would be gained from a game such as this? CCH would maul Villa using their second string. CCH certainly gains nothing from such a matchup and not sure how Villa would either. Sometimes you can "over-schedule", if you know what I mean.

What will keep these kids from seeking greener pastures and perpetuate the problem that you mentioned has been an issue over the past few years?

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.

Actually, if starter goes one pitch past 5th inning on Monday (one pitch counts as an inning), he would be ineligible for Wednesday, as his rest days would be Tuesday and Wednesday. If he pitches 7 innings on Monday, he would be done for the tournament, as he would be required to rest Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday (3 days rest). As always, the draw is going to be huge.

CCH was probably ducking them.

Actually, I can't locate the schedule on the KHSAA website. I am assuming the 9th will run them the same as last year - opening round games on Monday (Memorial Day), semis on Wednesday, and championship on Friday? Anyone know differently?

My top teams in 9th at end of regular season: 1 - Cov Cath 1A - Ryle 2 - Holy Cross 3 - Dixie 4 - NCC 4A - Boone

33rd District Tournament information: All games at Cooper High School starting at 5:30 p.m. Monday (5/21) - #1 Ryle vs. #4 Cooper Tuesday (5/22) - #2 Boone vs. #3 Conner Wednesday (5/23) - winners meet for district championship

Not so certain I agree that the number of games scheduled is the sole determinant in deciding whether a school takes baseball "serious", but I certainly think Ryle takes its baseball very serious. Just out of curiosity, I went back and checked the number of regular season games they played in the past 10 seasons (including 2012) - 36, 31, 35, 30, 30, 33, 35, 30, 33, 32. You can be certain that any season they did not push the 35-36 game total had to do with weather and not scheduling. I would also submit that Ryle's coach annually puts together one of the toughest schedules of any team in NKY. He usually plays between 5-8 state-ranked teams from outside the NKY area each season. On the flipside, I would like to see the school step up its commitment to the program and invest a couple of dollars into helping to upgrade the team's field. Every bit of improvement over the past 5-6 years has come with funds generated by parents.