Ryleigh Knowlton was determined to take a big step forward following her junior season, her first as a regular starter in high school, and she put in a lot of work to make that happen.
The results of that work was quite evident to start the season.
The Bartow senior allowed just one run through her first 12 appearances as she emerged as one of the top pitchers in the state en route to leading the Yellow Jackets to a runner-up finish in Class 6A.
Knowlton is The Ledger’s 2026 Softball Pitcher of the Year.
The numbers speak for themselves. As a junior, Knowlton was 10-2 with a 2.70 ERA along with 144 strikeouts and 31 walks in 85 2/3 innings as she split pitching duties with Brooklyn Tyson, who is now at Sebring. She emerged as the definitive No. 1 as a senior, going 21-3 with a 1.11 ERA along with 223 strikeouts and 42 walks in 139 1/3 innings.
Knowlton had more control and shaper pitches in her senior year, the results of the work since the end of her junior season.
“I think it’s really just putting in the extra work over the summer and knowing I need to hit my spots,” she said. “I need to throw the ball hard, I need to do this, do that. Just help me because my head’s always been good. I’m always mentally prepared and everything. So, it was really just the physical aspect.”
Knowlton’s best pitch, the screwball, became even better. Her change-up improved tremendously and her riseball got faster. Hitter of the year Keira Davis of Lake Wales saw the improvement in Knowlton.
“Her rise definitely improved a lot,” Davis said. “Her change-up is pretty good. Just overall she just improved.”
Knowlton certainly had the confidence of head coach Glenn Rutenbar.
“Coach Rutenbar pushes us to be the best,” she said. “Every year, he’ll tell me, you’ve got to do this, you’re going to be No. 1, you’re going to be the best pitcher in Polk County. So it’s just me trying to live up to what he tells me I’m going to be.”
And indeed, Knowlton became the No. 1 pitcher in Polk County, a trek that began when she was 9. She got into pitching by her mother, the former Staci Lyon, who pitched Winter Haven to a district title in the early 2000s. Unlike her mother, whose No. 1 sport was soccer, Knowlton found her calling as a pitcher.
“I’m decent at first base, but I just love pitching,” she said. “I love being in control.”
As the back-up pitcher to Red Oxley her first years, Knowlton started at first as a freshman and was a backup as a sophomore. Playing regularly again as a junior — she started first the past seasons when she wasn’t pitching — Knowlton also emerged as one of Bartow’s top hitters. She batted .357 as a junior and .372 as a senior.
Of course, it was pitching where she was most important, and Knowlton rose to the occasion down the stretch. She outdueled Bloomingdale’s Lindsey Cable for a 3-2 win in the district championship game. She outdueled Durant’s Madyson Lauer for a 2-1 victory in the regional semifinals and followed up with a four-hit shutout over Melbourne in the regional finals.
The state semifinals against Doral was a war of attrition. She allowed just two runs through five inning as Bartow led 10-2 then grinned it out over the last two innings to secure the win.
Knowlton might have saved her best for last. She allowed three runs in the first inning against Pace in which Rutenbar attributed to a bad pitch selection he made then shutout Pace on one hit over the last six innings to give Bartow a chance to rally.
“I realized that they were all so tall, they were reaching everything on that side (outside) of the plate,” she said. “I was just like, if I just jam them inside, they’re either going to watch it because the ball’s going to move and they’re going to get scared, or they’re just going to pop it up, which is what they did. They popped everything up and they struck out. So, I just really started jamming them inside.”
Going forward, Knowlton has signed with Polk. She wants to be a teacher and enjoys working with special needs children.
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Hard work moved Bartow’s Knowlton above all other Polk County pitchers
Reporting by Roy Fuoco, Lakeland Ledger / The Ledger
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Roy Fuoco, Lakeland Ledger | USA TODAY Network
