KALAMAZOO, Mich. — From West Catholic, to Kalamazoo. Freshman Ryar Rinehart hasn't wasted any time in his first year with the hornets.
"I mean going from pitching practice right in the morning and then going to hitting and having to stay later because I didn't get as many swings as the other guys, it's just kinda a bigger time commitment but I adapted. And when I got a little hurt, that is what allowed me to focus on hitting more which is why I feel like I've bee doing so well. Just focusing and getting better in that area," said Rinehart.
All that swing practice paid off this week. Hitting .593. through a 10 game stretch including 16 runs, 5 doubles and four home runs.
"He has worked really hard and I think the talent that we knew was there, everybody is starting to see. And last week was incredible for him it was incredible for our team. I'm really proud of the way he's responded and I think it's been a huge spark not only for our offense but our whole team," said Mike Ott.
Because of his success last week, Ryar was named MIAA player of the week and DIII rookie of the week. He was shocked to hear the news.
"I was walking over to go throw bullpen and coach Ott just yelled it from the dug out and I just thought, wow that's pretty cool," said Rinehart.
They're two and a half games ahead of Alma, who they play this weekend. And for the 10th ranked hitting team in the country, they'll continue to feed off of Ryar's big at bats if they want to try to win the regular season title.
"Hitting is contagious and has good of a week as he had, and I mean he had all the extra base hits, our catch hit .640. so the you have two guys in the middle who are doing that, I think it gets going in a really good direction. I think his positivity doesn't really get too high, too low, and that's what we want from all of our hitters. So I think it's been a really good spark in the middle and I think it's corresponded through the entire offense," said Ott.
Alma will travel to take on Kalamazoo for the first game of the series on Friday, April 21st at 4pm.
