Coming into the season, Ryle’s strength was going to be its depth on the mound.
The Raiders are really showing off their plethora of arms and it was evident in Monday’s 33rd District baseball tournament championship with Conner.
Caleb Mann came on in the fifth inning and pitched three scoreless innings as the Raiders won their second straight district crown with a 4-2 victory over the Cougars.
Mann was rewarded district tournament MVP for his efforts not only on the mound, but at the plate as he collected two hits, one of them a double, an RBI, run scored and a walk in the tournament in wins over Boone County and the Cougars.
“I like handling the pressure because it doesn’t bother me at all,” Mann said. “I like coming on in relief because I can throw multiple games and not be as sore.”
While Mann may have been composed, things started off shaky for both teams. Ryle committed two errors in the first inning, allowing the Cougars to scratch the first run across the board when Aaron Wichmann and Rex Richter executed a double steal, Wichmann taking second and Richter proceeding to take home. Ryle was fortunate the damage was limited, AJ Curry catching a fly ball in foul territory in right field and then gunning Wichmann out at home for a double play to end the frame.
The Raiders responded quickly with a run in the bottom half of the first as the first four Raider batters reached base, Dylan McIntyre with an RBI single to score Curry.
“We’ve been knocking on the door offensively,” Raiders coach Joe Aylor said. “You look at the two games in the district tournament, there’s only three innings we didn’t have runners in scoring position. Keep knocking on the door, you’re eventually going to bust the door down.”
The Cougars also played damage control as two runners were left stranded when Brady Bushman got a strikeout and pop out to end the threat.
Owen Louden’s RBI single made it 2-1 Cougars in the second, scoring Logan Webster. Ryle answered right back in the bottom half on Anthony Coppola’s RBI single, scoring Mann.
Sam Eppley settled in from there for the Raiders, throwing scoreless frames in the third and fourth as he pitched four innings, allowing two hits while striking out five and walking four.
While Ryle limited their miscues after the first inning, Conner’s miscues eventually caught up to them. With the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the third, Xavier Owens reached on an error on a grounder to third base, allowing Ollie Morris to score.
“We’ve let a couple of these slip away now,” Cougars coach Mike Hart said. “I told the guys after the game let this one sting for a little bit, but walk out of here with your head high and be ready to go on Monday.”
Morris added an insurance run in the fifth, his first varsity homerun clearing the left field fence to make it 4-2.
“I’ve had my fair share of wall balls, my warning track power and it feels good to finally get one over,” Morris said.
It’s all Mann would need, pitching a 1-2-3 sixth and striking out the side in the seventh despite the tying run reaching base after two singles allowed.
“He’s been a bulldog. Whatever we need out of him he does,” Aylor said. “He’s a competitor and we know we can put him in these spots and give it our best.”
The Raiders won their eighth straight game in the process, turning their attention to their ultimate goal now…the 9th Region tournament.
“This is our first goal obviously,” Aylor said. “Two straight years of 8-0 in the district is nice, but that’s not where we want to be. District isn’t what we’re playing for. Now we have to focus on region.”
They’ll enter as a 1-seed with a 28-9 record. They’ve gone 15-3 against 9th Region foes so far this season.
Conner dropped to 15-23 with hopes to get on a roll next week as Monday’s loss was their 15th in the last 18 games.
“Just one game at a time. Just have to go 1-0 moving forward and we’ll focus on that and take it one game at a time,” Hart said.
The 9th Region tournament begins Monday at Florence Y’alls Thomas More Stadium.
RAIDERS 4, COUGARS 2
CONNER — 110-000-0 — 2-4-2
RYLE — 111-010-x — 4-10-3
2B — Mann
HR — Morris
WP — Eppley. LP — Bushman.
Records: Conner 15-23, Ryle 28-9