Ryle’s Raiders make it happen on one final swing against CovCath in 9th Region’s top two battle

By Dan Weber NKyTribune sports reporter Covington Catholic’s Colonels were one out away from their 30th win. In a game they probably shouldn’t have been leading. But they were, up 2-1 thanks to one hit – a Marcus Suwinski two-RBI double in the sixth inning, CovCath’s first hit of the game.

And now all they needed to finish the regular season 30-3 Wednesday evening at Ryle, was one more out. Just one. The host Ryle Raiders, the Ninth Region’s No. 2 team, had one last shot with two outs, one on and No. 9 hitter Tate Cordrey at the plate. A .300 hitter a year ago, the senior “has had a tough time of it,” his coach, Joe Aylor said, “I don’t think he’s even hitting .200.” He’s not. Just .171 the Ryle stats say. So when he got the count to 2-0, Tate and his coach had a meeting of the minds. “Get aggressive,” Aylor told him. “They’re going to come after you.” What choice did they have? Standing there in the on-deck circle was leadoff hitter AJ Curry, who leads all Kentucky high school hitters with a .596 batting average and had two hits already in this game with Ryle’s lone RBI on a fifth-inning double. “Exactly, that’s what you have to do,” said CovCath Coach Bill Krumpelbeck nodded in agreement – go after him. Challenge the No. 9 hitter, throw it over the plate, especially after the count got to 3-0, then 3-1.

“I knew they were going to throw me fast balls,” Cordrey said. His job, he said, was just to hit it hard somewhere and see what happens. And then CovCath’s Suwinski, 4-0 this year with a 1.47 ERA and the man who gave CovCath the sixth inning come-from-behind lead, delivered another heater. And Cordrey did what he knew he had to do. He didn’t just hit it. Didn’t just square it up. Didn’t just drive it into a gap and try to score the lead runner, the left-hander flat-out crushed it, pulled it to right, as the line drive hooked right above the outfielder retreating back to the fence at the 330-foot mark. But to no avail. The ball cleared the fence for a 3-2 walk-off win as the Raiders’ fans, players and coaches almost couldn’t believe their eyes. Their No. 9 hitter not only had his second walk-off winner in back-to-back games — Tuesday he did it against Highlands with a seventh-inning gapper – but they took down top dog CovCath to even their regular season series at one win each.

Almost as soon as Cordrey crossed the plate and did the whole hand-shaking thing with CovCath and the back-slapping and hugs with his own teammates, he grabbed a rake and started working – as all the Ryle players do – manicuring the field and the mound. But Cordrey did have time to talk. Yes, he said, he expects to stay at the No. 9 spot even more now despite the back-to-back walk-offs. “Coach Aylor said it’s working and he’s not changing it.” But instead of talking about how CovCath managed to win its 30th game without really hitting the ball, Ryle was talking about a second straight 25-win season. And Krumpelbeck was talking about what might have been “had we not taken all those third strikes” or “gotten the bunt down and gotten that extra run . . . We’ve got to figure something out.” Especially after that final swing. “We’ve struggled hitting all year,” Krumpelbeck said, “it’s no secret. Our pitching has carried us.”

In this game, it was Ryle’s pitching, especially the work of senior starter Grant Ashcraft, that carried the day. Coming in with a 1-2 record and a 5.42 ERA, Ashcraft had a no-hitter going into the sixth when he gave way with one out and bases loaded to reliever Xaiden Hughes, who stopped CovCath with that one run. “We’ve got the deepest pitching staff in the state,” Ashcraft said, “we’ve got so many guys, everybody knows that.” His coach doesn’t disagree. “If that’s an understatement or an overstatement, it’s not off by far.” Just as Ashcraft wasn’t missing by much. “I’ve struggled a bit with walks (he had seven) but they have two-three really good hitters . . . it feels great, we feel great beating CovCath.” Because of the rain, Ryle added an extra game – “a safety game,” Aylor called it against Bracken County Thursday in case they couldn’t get this one in. He didn’t want to have five days off before Saturday’s first-round district game against Boone County at noon. Conner and Cooper play at 3. The championship game will be Monday. For CovCath, the Colonels face Holmes Saturday with Beechwood and Holy Cross squaring off in the other Saturday game with the championship game Tuesday. SCORING SUMMARY COVCATH (29-3) 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 – 2 1 0 RYLE (25-9) 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 – 3 7 1 WP: Hughes 2-0 LP: Suwinski 4-1 LEADING HITTERS: Ryle: Curry 2-3, double, RBI; Cordrey 2-3, HR, 2 RBI; CovCath; Suwinski double, RBI. Contact Dan Weber at dweber3440@aol.com. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @dweber3440.