Owyhee star was 0-for-18. Then he erupted to keep the Storm’s district title hopes alive
Little broke Jack Ryan’s way the past month.
The Owyhee senior entered Wednesday mired in a 0-for-18 slump. So the Storm dropped the reigning first-team All-Idaho center fielder to No. 9 in the lineup, and he even switched bats looking for something — anything — to change his luck.
The moves worked like a charm as Ryan broke out Wednesday, leading Owyhee to an 8-4 victory over Middleton in Game 2 of the 5A District Three baseball championship series.
Ryan went 3-for-3 with a pair of RBIs out of the No. 9 hole, a place he said he’s never hit at any point in his life. And he pitched five scoreless innings of relief for the Storm (20-3) to send the best-of-three district championship series back to Middleton (21-5) for a decisive Game 3 at 6 p.m. Thursday.
“The last couple weeks, I’ve gone 0-for with so many strikeouts. I was like a walking strikeout,” Ryan said. “But moving to the nine (hole) and me switching my bat, it just put me in a different mindset.
“I just didn’t really care what I did. Whatever happens, happens. And it happened to be good.”
Nine of his previous 18 at-bats ended in a strikeout. So Owyhee coach Russ Wright moved his star center fielder down the lineup as part of the Storm’s first major shakeup this year.
Wright said he tried to elevate some hot bats up the order. But he was also conscious of the growing weight on Ryan’s shoulders as his slump grew larger and larger.
“Baseball can be a very tough game when you’re struggling,” Wright said. “Some of the other sports, you can remain a little hidden. I don’t know if the crowd knows that the running back is really missing the hole and stuff like that.
“But when you’re here and you’re striking out or you’re struggling, it’s in front of everybody — mom, dad, friends, coaches. And it sucks at times. So I was really proud of Jack. He answered the call in all ways.”
Ryan broke his four-week hitless streak with a sharp single to left in the second inning to bring home a run. Then, in typical Ryan fashion, he wreaked havoc on the base paths. He forced an errant pickoff attempt to advance to second, then stole third before coming around on a Ryder Cutlip single to give Owyhee a 4-0 lead.
He added another RBI single in the third, and he dropped a picture-perfect bunt in the fifth to raise his season average 33 points in a single evening to .294.
Wednesday also saw Ryan take on a new role on the mound. He normally shares the closer role, but Owyhee turned to him in the third inning facing early trouble.
He gave up a two-run double to Middleton’s Josh Lucido in his first at-bat, tying the game at 4-4. But after those two inherited runners scored, he retired 15 of the next 17 to improve to 5-0 on the season.
“After the first hit, I didn’t know how things were going to go when Middleton hit that gapper,” Ryan said. “But then I started getting my tempo going, and then I just felt myself get in a rhythm. I just felt good, so I kept going.”
Both Owyhee and Middleton already clinched their state tournament berths and their seeds before the district championship series. Owyhee will be the No. 1 seed next week at The College of Idaho, and Middleton will be the No. 2 seed based on their final regular-season MaxPreps rankings.
The district championship remains solely for Treasure Valley bragging rights. Owyhee’s victory forced a decisive Game 3 for the first time since the 5A Southern Idaho Conference returned to the best-of-three series format in 2017.
HOMEDALE WINS 3A DISTRICT TITLE
Homedale plated the game-winning run in the top of the sixth inning to beat top-seeded Fruitland 10-9 to win the 3A District Three championship for the second time in three years Wednesday at Fruitland High.
With the game tied at 9-all, Jayden Wutherich was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to bring in the winning run.
Chance Martel and Oklin Carson had three hits apiece for the Trojans, while Sigmund Goode and D’Orr Packer contributed two hits each.
Homedale (19-8) and Fruitland (15-7-1) both advance to next week’s 3A state tournament at Northwest Nazarene University in Nampa. They will meet again in the first round.
This story was originally published May 10, 2023 at 10:58 PM.
