Ryle's Gorbandt chills Crusaders

Written by Richard Skinner, Enquirer Contributor - Ryle's Gorbandt chills Crusaders

Battling a sore arm on a chilly night didn't have Ryle senior left-hander Matt Gorbandt very confident about facing Holy Cross on Monday, but he couldn't have been more wrong.  Gorbandt held a potent Holy Cross lineup that was averaging 8.6 runs per game without a hit for the first 5 2/3 innings and finished with a one-hitter in leading the Raiders to a 1-0 victory in a battle of two of the top five teams in the Ninth Region at Meinken Field in Covington.

Holy Cross senior Nick Jehn was almost as good, finishing with a complete-game three-hitter. Gorbandt needed just 87 pitches, 61 of which were strikes, while walking two and striking out nine to improve to 6-1 on the season. He retired the first nine batters in a row before walking junior right fielder Justin Kohake leading off the fourth, then set down the next eight in order before Kohake chopped a grounder between short and third for Holy Cross' only hit.

The Indians (20-6) then got a two-out walk in the seventh before Gorbandt struck out Chad Fuller looking on a 3-2 curve to end the game.  "I haven't really been pitching that great this year or doing as well as I thought I should be," said Gorbandt. "It's really cold and they're a really dangerous team and I didn't feel great. You never feel comfortable with them. I was just trying to throw strikes. My curveball was really working for me and it's my best pitch. That's why I threw it on 3-2 at the end.  "They think they're the best team in the region; we think we're the best team in the region. It's a big win to get us rolling again."

Ryle (19-8-1) had lost four of its last six games entering Monday night. "They've got a heckuva ball team there's no doubt about that," said Ryle coach Pat Roesel. "He dominated pretty well tonight. He did a good job of mixing pitches and throwing strikes. He was on. If he can do that and we can get a couple of hits we'll take it. We'd like to hit a little bit more."

Roesel stopped short of calling it a statement win, but with the postseason looming in less than a week, he knows it's an important one for his team's confidence.  "There are a lot of teams that consider themselves the best team in the region," said Roesel. "I think we're pretty good."

The game's only run came in the top of the fourth when designated hitter Tyler Mason doubled off the top of the fence in right with two outs and scored when shortstop Leiff Clarkson tripled to deep right center. Clarkson had been slumping recently and was dropped from No. 3 in the batting to No. 6.
"He's been struggling a little bit," said Roesel. "If he's going to have some good at bats he'll come around. I've told him if you take your walks you're going to get your pitches. He battled to take a great walk his first at bat. He needs to swing at his pitches and that's what he did in that second at bat. As long as he keeps having good at bats he'll be fine."

Holy Cross got only one runner as far as second in the game, but had a chance to rally in the bottom of the seventh. Sophomore shortstop Blake Tiberi led off with a line drive to center field that Ryle's Caleb Lonkard appeared to lose in the lights, but Lonkard hustled after his miscue and threw a perfect strike to second to nail Tiberi. It marked the second time in the last three games that Holy Cross had been shutout after being blanked by Covington Catholic on Saturday, 2-0, to snap a 12-game winning streak.

"Saturday and today was just a little about tipping your cap to the opposition," said Holy Cross coach Mike Holtz. "We're in a little stage of hitting it at 'em. I'm not disappointed. I'm mad that we lost, but not disheartened, not disappointed and not worried. ... I'd have been mad and disappointed if he hadn't tried to make something happen."