Five questions for Pat Roesel

Written by Marc Hardin, Enquirer contributor

Five questions for Ryle baseball coach Pat Roesel:

You've been the only baseball coach at Ryle since taking over the program in 1993. You've seen every player who's passed through the program. Who was the best?
I would have to say Keith Jones. He was our only Northern Kentucky player of the year as voted by the coaches in 1995. He was a guy that could do everything. He was a left-handed pitcher who threw about 87 (mph) and he was a left-handed bat who hit for power and average. He was a good fielder. He was the best I've had at combining all aspects of the game.

Best memory at Ryle during those 19 seasons?
We won the regional in 2007 and swept Somerset in the state subsectional and they didn't know what hit them. It was unbelievable. We were a real surprise and we ambushed them. We pitched. We hit. We ran. We fielded the ball. They went home in a daze and came back the next game and we knocked them out. We just pounded them. Then we lost to Shelby County in the final eight.

Few people realize this but your athletic director at Ryle, Jim Demler, is kind of a secret weapon for you guys. You want to explain that?
Jim and I are the only original coaches who are still here at Ryle. Every other coach has been replaced. He was the original JV baseball coach in 1993. He's a very good pitcher. We played together in the Roy Hobbs League until my kids came along. We can't hit him in batting practice. Off and on, over the years, I've asked him to come over when we've needed a tough left-handed pitcher to hit. And we don't hit him.

How did you get into baseball coaching?
I played a short stint at Xavier. I was on the team my first year but I had some injuries. I had a couple of shoulder surgeries on my left throwing shoulder and redshirted my sophomore year. I started coaching before I graduated in 1991 and was an assistant at Covington Catholic in 1990, '91 and '92. They needed a coach at Ryle when the school opened and I applied.

Being a product of the Covington Catholic factory of high school baseball players and having played for coach Bill Krumpelbeck, a guy who is pushing 800 career victories, what would you say is the secret to the sustained success over there?
Pitching, and luck. (laughs). He's put together 20-win season after 20-win season. People talk about it. We won 21 games when I was a senior on the 1987 team. That started the streak. I don't know if anybody will match what he's doing. He's very good. Coach (Chris) Maxwell at Dixie Heights and John Finn at Simon Kenton are two more guys who have been around a lot longer than me who have won a lot of baseball games. Those three are just phenomenal. That's who you should be talking to.

See the NKY Enquirer at Five questions for Pat Roesel