UNION, Ky. - Beechwood was without its head coach on Saturday, and in the bottom of the first inning, Ryle lost its skipper as well.
But Tigers coach Bob Myerhoff will return for the district tournament this week, while the Raiders’ Pat Roesel will serve a two-game suspension.
Ryle beat Beechwood, 13-2 in five innings, but Roesel was ejected for arguing with the home plate umpire. According to KHSAA bylaw 11-7, an ejected coach is suspended for the subsequent two games.
“I probably aught to not make a comment about it – it can only get me in trouble,” Roesel said.
For the Raiders, that would be their district semifinal vs. Conner on Tuesday and the final on Wednesday, should they win the first game. If Conner wins on Tuesday, Roesel would have to sit out the 2012 season opener.
Meanwhile, Myerhoff was not at the game because he was serving his own suspension after getting the boot for arguing on Friday night. But fortunately for the Tigers they had a doubleheader scheduled for Saturday, so Myerhoff will return for districts.
Trailing 1-0, senior third baseman Conner Hempel led off the bottom of the first for Ryle. He tried to avoid an inside pitch, but the Raiders claimed it hit him.
Roesel walked down from the third base coaches’ box to confront the umpire. After a few seconds, the home plate umpire warned Roesel to quit arguing.
While walking back to third, Roesel said “then get it right, that’s all I’m saying.”
That prompted the umpire to eject Roesel, leaving the game between two of Northern Kentucky’s best teams to be completed without their head coaches.
“I just thought the ball hit our batter, the batter told our coach it hit him, I asked (the home plate umpire) to check (with the second base umpire), and he didn’t check with his partner, and I’ll leave it at that,” Roesel said.
Ryle tied the score at one in the bottom of the second on a junior catcher Marshall Long single through the hole on the left side.
In the third inning, sophomore left fielder Tyler Mason lined a single to left-center field with runners at the corners, and with the man on first on the move, both runners were able to score. The next three batters all walked, forcing in a run and chasing starting pitcher junior Darrick Brilz.
Long laid down a suicide squeeze to make it 5-1.
The Raiders sent 13 men to the plate in the fourth inning. Hempel tripled home one and senior center fielder Caleb Lonkard singled him in.
Mason followed with a two-run double, and Long plated two with a double later in the inning, during which Ryle scored eight times to put the game away.
Mason and Long finished with four RBI each.
“This was a momentum game,” Mason said. “You’ve got to make the most of it when you’ve got the momentum, get big hits in big situations.”
Ryle’s offensive outburst has not been the norm this season. The Raiders’ average of 7.2 runs per game is the lowest among Region 9’s five 20-game winners.
Ryle also beat a Covington Catholic team with excellent pitching, 4-0 on Friday.
“I have enjoyed how we’ve hit the last two days,” Roesel said. “We have struggled mightily with the bats the entire year, but I’m happy that they started hitting, and hopefully we’ll keep the ball rolling.”
BEECHWOOD 100-10—2 7 1
at RYLE 014-8X—13 10 1
WP: Pomfrey. LP: Brilz. Hitting leaders: R—Hempel 2-2, 3B, 2 RBI; Lonkard 2-4; Mason 2-3, 2B, 4 RBI; Long 2-2, 2B, 4 RBI. B—Colosimo 2-3; Cottingham 3-3, 2 2B. Records: Ryle 22-9, Beechwood 28-7.
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