Ryle Raiders Baseball: Welcome

Several Raiders were recognized for their outstanding accomplishments during the 2011 season.  Congratulations to the following players who received awards at the post-season banquet:

VARSITY

Raider Baseball Award (MVP) - Tyler O'Bryan
Top Pitcher - Matt Gorbandt
Charlie Hustle Award - Caleb Lonkard
                Most Improved - Matt Isler

Caleb Lonkard and Tyler O'Bryan were selected to represent Ryle in the Northern Kentucky Senior All-Star Game.

 

JUNIOR VARSITY

Raider Baseball Award (MVP) - Tyler Mason
Top Pitcher - Josh Bellew
Best Defensive Player - Tyler Lonnemann
Coaches Award - Thomas Baumann

 

FRESHMAN

Raider Baseball Award (MVP) - Jeremy Downs
Top Pitcher - Mac Welsh

HEARTBREAKING ENDING TO 2011 RAIDER SEASON

It wasn't the ending to the season that the Ryle faithful were wanting or expecting, as the Raiders dropped their opening round district tournament game to the Conner Cougars by a score of 6-5 in 11 innings.  The loss was a tough swallow for the Raiders, who had their sights on returning to the region tournament for the first time since 2009.  The Cougars also eliminated the Raiders from post-season play last season (2010).

The game was played over two days, as the two teams found themselves tied after nine innings on Tuesday evening (May 24) and not enough daylight to continue.  The Raiders jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the game, but Conner fought back and took a 5-2 lead after the top of the 5th inning.  Ryle picked up a run in the bottom of the 5th inning and then tied the game in the 6th on a Conner Hempel two-run bomb.  The two teams traded goose eggs for the next three innings.  Ryle's Mark Downs was outstanding in his four innings of relief, not allowing the Cougars a single run.

The game was continued on Wednesday evening.  Neither team scored in the 10th inning, but the Cougars picked up two runs in the top of the 11th inning.  The Raiders' season came to an early end when they went down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the 11th.

No doubt disappointing, especially for the eight seniors, but the Raiders had a very good season overall, tallying 22 victories against only 10 losses.  Of the 10 losses, the Raiders were in every game but two.  Hard to say "Wait 'til next year" quite so soon, but with the success of the JV and Freshman teams, coupled with the return of a solid group of juniors on varsity, the 2012 season indeed looks bright!   

Story on the first 9 innings

Story on the end of the game

RAIDERS BASH BEECHWOOD ON "SENIOR DAY"

The Raiders concluded their outstanding 2011 regular season on May 21, as they took on the Beechwood Tigers at Ryle's home field.  The game was designated "Senior Day" to honor the 8 Ryle seniors who are graduating after this season.

Wearing "throwback" uniforms from the Ryle teams of the mid-1990's, the Raiders rolled to an easy 13-2 victory in five innings.  Nick Pomfrey was the starting pitcher for the Raiders and recorded the win.  Ryle broke open a 1-1 tie in the third inning when Tyler Mason hit a two-run single.  After the Beechwood pitcher walked in a run, Marshall Long laid down a suicide bunt to push the score to 5-1.  The Raiders blew the game open in the 4th inning when they sent 13 batters to the plate.  For the game, both Mason and Long had 4 RBI. 

Ryle finishes their season with a 22-9 record, including wins over #1 ranked Holy Cross, #2 ranked Covington Catholic, and #6 ranked Beechwood within the past week. 

Congratulations to Ryle seniors Caleb Lonkard, Daniel Etscheid, Conner Hempel, Matt Gorbandt, Brent Truitt, Jake Steinle, Tyler O'Bryan, and Matt Isler!

Check out the story in the Kentucky Post

OUTSTANDING JV SEASON ENDS ONE GAME TOO SOON

The JV Raiders’ 2011 season ended one game sooner than they would have preferred, but they nonetheless had an incredibly successful season by any baseball standard.

The young Raiders reached the semi-final game of the JV regional tournament against Newport Central Catholic on Saturday afternoon after having defeated Campbell County by a score of 3-0 in the first round on May 16 and Covington Catholic by the score of 5-4 in the quarterfinal round on May 20.  The win over Cov Cath was particularly exciting, as the Raiders won in walk-off fashion in the bottom of the 7^th inning on Tyler Lonnemann’s  RBI single down the right field line. 

Unfortunately, the Raiders could not pull off such heroics in the semi-final game against Newport Central Catholic, a team they had beaten twice during the regular season.  Ryle dug themselves an early 3-0 hole through 4 innings, before coming back to tie it in the 6^th inning.  In the top of the 7^th inning, NCC scored two runs, and the Raiders again fought back, tying the game on Jackson Brennan’s 2-run double.  The 8^th frame proved not as fortuitous for Ryle, however, as the Breds scored a single run in their half of the inning, while the Raiders were held scoreless.  The 6-5 loss ended the Raiders’ hopes for a regional title.  New Cath eventually defeated Boone County in the championship game.  This marks the third straight year that the JV Raiders were knocked out by the eventual regional champion.

Regional championship or not, the Raiders had an astounding season, tying the JV school mark for most wins (26) and most shut outs (6) in a season, and setting new marks for the longest consecutive game winning streak (15) and most consecutive wins to start the season (15).  Additionally, this was Coach Demler’s 6^th straight season of 20+ wins and he has also won 20+ games in 8 of the past 9 years. 

Given the success of this year’s JV team, it would appear that the future indeed seems bright for the 2012 varsity Raider ballclub.  Congrats to Coach Demler, Coach Kinman, Coach Northrup, and the entire 2011 JV baseball team!

2012 RAIDER WINDOW DECALS

You will have an opportunity to purchase your 2012 Ryle Raider Baseball car window decals at the pre-season meeting.  The decals can be order with or without the individual player's name and number. 

Varsity, JV, and Freshman parents can post pictures they have taken at Ryle games on this website.  Go to  www.snapfish.com and log in using the email address rylebaseball@fuse.net and the password raiders.  We will occasionally download these photos to the "Pictures" page of this website, but cannot  download all pictures due to space limitations.  If a JV or Freshman parent would like to have professional pictures taken of their son, you should contact www.jefferdsphotography.com. If have any any questions or suggestions regarding the Ryle baseball website, you may contact the website administrator at  rylebaseball@fuse.net.