One of the best ways to replace a big senior class of graduating baseball players is to have another big class waiting in the wings. Ryle High School is taking that to extremes. The Raiders are replacing eight graduates with 13 new seniors this season.
No triskaidekaphobian, coach Joe Aylor counts himself lucky to have his 13.
“It’s by far the biggest senior class I’ve ever had at Ryle,” said Aylor, who became head coach in 2020.
To be clear, Aylor has no fear of the number 13. But there’s good reason for opponents to fear his 13 seniors.
“They all can play, and we’ve got some really good underclassmen, too,” Aylor said. “We’ve got guys who aren’t starting for us who could start for a lot of other good teams. Our fifth and sixth starting pitchers could be aces on other teams. We have pitchers everywhere.”
Not only are aces wild as Aylor shuffles the deck, but he’s also playing with a full house with bats. Seven of last season’s top 11 hitters return for another high stakes effort. Among them are senior Dylan McIntyre, who batted .313, second among regulars. He was also second with 33 RBI. He was an all-area baseball selection last season by local coaches.
Senior Olli Morris hit .306 for the Raiders and senior Josh Caudill hit .277. Senior Lucas Sanders and underclassmen Anthony Coppola and Xaden Hughes were also among team hitting leaders. Coppola, who hit .260, led in stolen bases and was second in runs. Hughes was fourth in RBI. He had more RBI (20) than hits (15) while batting .263. Sanders was second in home runs. Senior Parker Lastivka is ready to make a breakthrough. Coach Aylor said Lastivka has a college offer.
Ryle batted .296 as a team last year with an average of nearly seven runs per game. The Raiders’ on-base percentage was north of .420. Nearly a quarter of their hits were doubles.
McIntyre, Sanders and Hughes form the core of the starting pitching rotation. They combined to go 11-0 last season, all with ERAs under 2.50. McIntyre (6-0, 1.82 ERA) and Hughes were under 2.00. McIntyre, who hits 94 mph with his fastball, struck out 85 batters in 57.2 innings pitched. Nathan Muench and Nik Carter allowed no earned runs in limited duty. The team ERA was a nifty 2.53.
Coppola and Hughes are juniors, joining classmates Landon Louden and Bear Bender. Carter is the lone sophomore. Coach Aylor said it’s great to be able to defend the 9th Region crown with so much talent and experience. Now all they have to do is successfully defend it for a repeat.
“It’s really nice to have that many seniors. I don’t know if I’ve seen a team this motivated,” Aylor said. “And these are the right 13. We’ve had conversations about there being nine positions at a time on the field. They all want to work as hard as they can so they can be out there. That’s what’s feeding into this. We have so many good players, so we have lots of depth and a lot of pitchers.”
Everybody’s all in and the Raiders are ready to play their hand. They take on St. Henry in Tuesday’s season opener for both teams at Ryle.
“I can’t wait,” said McIntyre, one of several two-way standouts on the Raiders. He pitches and plays shortstop and is heading to San Jacinto Junior College to continue his career. Morris is a Marion Military Institute commit. Caudill is heading to Southwest Tennessee Community College. Race Webb is a Transylvania commit.
“We have lots of kids with experience and we’ve all been together for a long time,” McIntyre said. “I think we’re better as a team this season because of it.”
The Raiders will be without last year’s one-season comet, Kentucky hits leader AJ Curry, who moved back to California. But Ryle has another card up its sleeve following last season’s 32-10 state quarterfinal finish.
In addition to college signees McIntyre, Caudill, Morris and Webb, Ryle also returns Matt Furtado. He is a Rose-Hulman commit. A senior infielder and pitcher, Furtado missed 32 games last year with a stress fracture in his back.
“It’s the L3 on my lower left side,” Furtado said of the third of five lumbar vertebra. It’s a crucial part of the spine for weight-bearing, movement and nerve function. “I couldn’t twist without it hurting so obviously I couldn’t pitch and I couldn’t hit.”
The early April injury required a 13-week recovery and Furtado was out the rest of the season. To Furtado it was a lucky 13 weeks. The recovery could have been a lot longer, possibly derailing the start of his senior season. That’s right now. But Furtado is a full go, much to the delight of his teammates and coaches.
“It was really tough watching Matt not play baseball,” Aylor said. “He loves baseball. Having him back is huge for him and for us both hitting and pitching. It will help us out a lot.”
Furtado is sliding back into the hot corner. He fields a solid third base. He has a good eye at the plate as shown by his .278 batting average and .500 on-base percentage. Furtado has some pop in his bat. He drilled a pair of doubles among his five hits in 18 at bats as a junior before the injury. He walked seven times. With greater strength, he’s improving as a pitcher now that he’s been able to get back on the mound pain-free.
“I don’t think I’ve ever been this excited for a season,” Furtado said. “We’ve gained a bond we haven’t had. We have really high hopes. We have 13 seniors and you can never have too much experience.”
Coppola, the new left fielder, is going to hit leadoff, replacing Curry at the top of the batting order. Morris, last year’s left fielder, is replacing Curry in right field. Sanders is the center fielder. Replacing Coppola at second base is Louden. Hughes plays first. Caudill is the catcher.
Furtado is a wild card. If he pitches as well as Aylor thinks he can, it helps create a seamless transition. And it might be just enough to put the Raiders over the top in their quest for a regional repeat. The Raiders are so deep in arms that Furtado may cause Aylor to occasionally go with a six-man starting pitching rotation. That is a key go-to during heavily scheduled weeks and keeps the pressure on opposing lineups.
“That’s our goal,” McIntyre said. “We ended last year with a loss (against McCracken County in the state tournament quarterfinals). We want to end this season with a win. That means winning games and taking care of the 33rd District, the 9th Region, and win state.”
There are plenty of like-minded folks out there who support Ryle, especially Raiders Nation. Even the impartial like Ryle. The Raiders are No. 1 in the Northern Kentucky Baseball Coaches Association preseason poll. They are No. 14, highest among locals, in Prep Baseball Report’s state rankings for Kentucky.
“We want to be standing with that state championship trophy in Lexington,” Furtado said. “It’s going to be tough. Baseball is a tough game to play but we’ve got good players and good coaches. We’ve got great communication with our coach. His best part is he’s able to talk, and we talk about winning.”