Ryle is the closest team in the Kentucky High School Athletic Association Ninth Region baseball tournament to Thomas More Stadium, about eight miles.
The Raiders (25-14) are 5-0 in the stadium this year after beating Dixie Heights 5-1 in the semifinals May 26. They advance to the championship game, 8 p.m. May 28. Dixie Heights (20-15) was last in the regional finals in 2024.
Ryle has been the away team in the batting order in both games this week, but the Raiders survived a slow start in both games as their pitching took over.
Junior pitcher Nik Carter shut down the Colonels. He threw six innings, allowing three hits. He started the seventh with a hit batter and a walk as rain was pouring down in Florence.
He allowed three hits and one run in the game, only one hit after the first inning, when Austin Krohmer gave Dixie a 1-0 lead with an RBI double.
“I was trying to get ahead, trying to get the lead batter out, like we practice,” Carter said. “My fastball worked really well. I feel amazing. I wanted to do my best and do my best for my team. I feel like I did that.”
Senior A.J. Davis came in to close it out. He put another batter on to load the bases, but struck out the final batter to end it. He and leadoff hitter Anthony Coppola were big players for Ryle’s record-setting regional runner-up basketball team.
“He’s done whatever we’ve asked him to,” head coach Joe Aylor said. “(Davis) is seriously one of the best kids we’ve coached just because he doesn’t care. He cares, but he doesn’t care. Whatever we tell him to do, he does. Kind of the way he was in basketball, just kind of the silent assassin.”
In the third inning, Ryle tied it on a single by Coppola, a stolen base and an RBI hit by Xaden Hughes. Ryle stranded runners on second and third on a nice play by third baseman Gentry Messmer.
In the fifth, senior Anthony Coppola gave Ryle the lead for good. He hit a leadoff single, stole second and third, and scored on a sacrifice fly by Michael Flowers.
Coppola had 26 steals coming in and now has 46 runs scored. He said he had a good read on Dixie’s pitchers and their throwing motion.
“For me as a player, my job is to get on base, leading off innings and getting runs,” he said. “If we can get guys on, we have a high chance to get runs in and the guys behind me do a good job of moving me around.”
Said Aylor, “He’s one of the smartest baseball players I’ve ever coached; he’s going to Division I George Washington for a reason. He’s literally a second coach on the field for us. His vision of the game is far beyond any senior I’ve ever had before and I’ve had some really good seniors come to the program.”
Carter left runners on first and second in the bottom of the fifth to hold a 2-1 lead.
Carter improved to 6-2 on the mound and lowered his 3.37 ERA. He had 82 strikeouts in 45 innings coming in.
Carter had given up six runs in the district final, a 10-3 loss to Conner.
“His ability to bounce back,” Aylor said. “I mean, he did something last week that was completely uncharacteristic of him in the district finals. He was not himself, and just to be able to come back and throw the way that we know he can throw is huge.”
Ryle scored three in the seventh. Flowers hit an RBI single, giving him four in the tournament. Landon Louden walked with the bases loaded, and the next batter was hit by a pitch.
Ryle is looking for its first regional title since 2024. The Raiders are ready for a tough challenge against Beechwood.
“We said it was going to three days in May,” Aylor said. “Whoever has three good days in May is going to be the champion, and we got two down, one to go. Keep the game as simple as you can, keep the big moments from being too big, and try to take care of business.”
Beechwood outlasts Conner in second semifinal
Beechwood outlasted Conner in a classic pitcher’s duel in the second semifinal, 6-1
Beechwood junior Caleb Arrasmith improved to 9-2 and lowered his 2.28 ERA coming in. He edged Conner senior Brady Bushman, who is 6-4 and had a 1.50 ERA coming in.
Beechwood led 2-1 after six innings and scored four in the seventh inning, getting to Bushman after both aces pitched well through six.
“That was a heavyweight fight on the mound,” Beechwood head coach Kevin Gray said. “That’s what a regional semifinal game should be like. Obviously, I’m glad we came out on top, but it’s still the way it should be. Two to one going into the seventh, anybody’s game, and we just happen to start hitting the ball.”
Arrasmith loved the matchup with the Cougars, who were third in the region, scoring seven runs per game.
“They’re a great team,” he said. “I knew they were going to swing it real well. They always have. So I was just trying to hit the zone, make them miss it, get soft contact, and let my boys in the field just make plays, and it paid off.
“Brady Bushman’s a great pitcher. We all knew what we were getting. It was a great game. And both pitchers fought hard. I give all props to Brady. He pitched a hell of a game.”
Arrasmith had missed a couple of weeks with some elbow inflammation, and was limited to batting, where he is one of the team’s best hitters.
“It feels amazing,” he said. “Just sitting there DHing, it’s not very fun. you get to swing, but playing the field is where it’s at. So I really took coming back seriously. Took my time, did all my workouts, made sure everything was good so that I could be back for the region tournament, help my team win a big game to get to a bigger game.”
Beechwood is in the final for the first time since 2023, when the Tigers won four championships in a row. Ryle is looking for its first title in two years.
Ryle (25-14) beat Beechwood (31-9) 9-7 April 10 in Union.
“Joe does a fantastic job with them,” Gray said. “They’re a really, really good team. Joe plays like we do. He plays the Moellers and St. X and everybody else. He doesn’t care what his record is. It doesn’t matter until the districts and the regional.
“They’re very well-coached and they’re always solid. So we’re going to have to play well Thursday for sure. It’s going to be whoever makes the least mistakes. whoever has the least amount of walks, is probably going to win the game.”
Conner (23-14) missed a chance for its first title since 2014 and first appearance in the finals since 2017.
In the first inning, Hudson Edwards hit a single for Beechwood with one out. The next two batters hit hard flyouts to the outfield.
Conner senior Brady Bushman led off the bottom of the first with a single. The ball bounced over the third baseman’s head into the outfield. Left fielder Bobby Meier threw out Bushman at second trying to stretch it to a double.
Beechwood scored in the second. Caleb Arrasmith led off with a single and moved to second on a grounder. Zach True hit an infield single, and a misplay by multiple infielders allowed courtesy runner Gavinn Ollier to score the first run of the game.
Conner tied it in the bottom of the second. Senior Everett Hall got on base with a single and left for courtesy runner Jagger Sheanshang. With two outs, he scored from first on a chopper in the infield that turned into a Beechwood throwing error into the outfield.
Beechwood took a 2-1 lead in the fourth. Arrasmith drew a leadoff walk. Zach True drove in his courtesy runner with a single.
In the top of the fifth, the Tigers loaded the bases on a two-out rally but Brady Bushman got a grounder to end the threat.
In the bottom of the sixth, Conner’s Grayson Wagner led off with a single, his third hit of the game for Conner. He moved to third base with two outs, and Arrasmith struck out Cooper Kelly to end the threat.
In the top of the seventh, Edwards hit a double, his second hit of the game. With one out, Conner intentionally walked Sawyer Carlisle. Brooks Becker hit a double down the right field line to score two runs. Luke Brauch reached on an infield single to make it 6-1.
Becker had made a couple of tough plays at shortstop in the bottom of the sixth to keep the 2-1 lead.
“I just had to step in that box to do my job,” Becker said. “He had me 0-2 and I worked back to the count. The only thing I could think about is my teammates. I said before the game, I told my teammates, play for the men next to you or behind you.”
Becker, a senior, is determined to help the Tigers get back to the state tournament after losing in the regional final last year.
“I’ve never cried or anything about baseball, but just seeing those seniors go (last year),” Becker said. “They were my role models, so just watching them go really hurt, so I don’t want that happening to me this year. I get to play (the final) with my favorite people. These guys are my brothers, so I’m ready to go out and win one.”
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Ryle, Beechwood baseball advance to play in Ninth Region final
Reporting by James Weber, Cincinnati Enquirer / Cincinnati Enquirer
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
