For the past several years, Ryle has made the top of the district feel routine.
This season has been no different.
Despite a wave of new faces stepping into larger roles following significant roster turnover from a year ago, the Raiders once again found themselves right where they expected, clinching the No. 1 seed in the 33rd District tournament with a 9-0 win over rival Cooper at Thomas More Stadium.
“It’s next man up,” Anthony Coppola, a George Washington commit, said. “Everybody that wasn’t playing last year that’s playing this year, they were just behind seniors who were high-level players. But we’ve always had guys under them ready to step in and do just as well.”
It marks the fourth straight season Ryle has claimed the top seed, improving to 27-2 against district opponents during that stretch.
While the names and faces have changed, the standard hasn’t.
Once again, earning the No. 1 seed was the goal, and once again, the Raiders delivered.
“We break our season into three parts: pre-district seeding, district seeding, and postseason,” Ryle head coach Joe Aylor said. “We really stress that these are the games that matter right now, this is what we’re playing for. We understand we play in one of the toughest districts in Northern Kentucky, so we do everything we can to be ready for this stretch.”
When the moment arrived, it was players like Nik Carter, who has pitching in his blood, who stepped forward. His uncle, Chris Hook, pitched for the San Francisco Giants from 1995–96 and is now a pitching coach for the Milwaukee Brewers.
The junior ace worked five innings while allowing just one hit and no runs. He walked three and struck out a season-high 13, surpassing his previous best of 10 in an 11-inning outing against Kettering Fairmont (Ohio).
“Just go out there and shove each time,” Carter said. “I didn’t really have my best stuff, my slider wasn’t coming out of my hand right. I had other options. My fastball was doing well. Just get outs. I wasn’t thinking only strikeout, I was just trying to get outs.”
Ryle’s early control of the game set the tone, and the Raiders’ offense followed by gradually building separation as the night went on.
The Jaguars, meanwhile, were limited from the start and never fully found rhythm against Carter and the Ryle pitching staff.
Cooper’s lone bright spot came from Drew Hartman, who recorded the team’s only hit, a single to center in the second at-bat of the night, while also being limited to designated hitter duties due to injury. The Jaguars were additionally without starting catcher Jackson Day and Jayden Duane, a pitcher with a 0.91 ERA and 30 strikeouts over 23 innings, who also starts at shortstop.
“Drew Hartman is our DH right now and he’s got a sore shoulder, so that’s all he can do,” Cooper head coach Rob Sawyers said. “Jackson Day is our starting catcher, and Hartman is our other catcher, so we’re down both catchers. Jayden Duane is also our starting shortstop and is out. We’re a completely different baseball team without them, and we’re hoping we can get those guys healthy quickly and back into action.”
Hartman’s hit briefly gave Cooper life, but Carter quickly shut things down, responding with back-to-back strikeouts in the first inning.
From there, Ryle’s offense continued to chip away. Xaden Hughes got the Raiders started offensively with an RBI single in the first to give them an early lead, and Coppola added to the pressure with a two-RBI single in the second.
In the fourth inning, Coppola added another RBI and eventually came around to score.
“Same thing every game,” Coppola said. “With runners in scoring position, just try to put the ball in play.”
He finished 3-for-4 with three RBIs, a run scored, and two stolen bases.
Kenton Caldwell and Andres Martinez also added RBIs in the inning, and Hughes drove in another run in the sixth, while Isaac Curry closed things out on the mound, allowing no hits and striking out three in relief.
Even with the seeding already decided, the two teams will face off once again Thursday at 5 p.m. at Cooper.
MORE PHOTOS: Provided by Charles Bolton
RAIDERS 9, JAGUARS 0
COOPER — 000-000-0 — 0-1-2
RYLE — 120-501-x — 9-10-0
RBI — (R) Coppola 3, Hughes 2, Caldwell, Louden, Martinez
WP — Carter. LP — Smith.
Records: Ryle 16-10, Cooper 12-9