Staff photo / Brian Yauger
Mineral Ridge pitcher Ty Tamburro races home during the third inning of a game against Brookfield April 2. The Rams have started off their season with an undefeated record of 6-0 under first-year coach Anthony Ragozine.
Things haven’t gone according to plan for the Mineral Ridge seniors during their time with the Rams.
They didn’t have a sophomore season due to the COVID-19 pandemic and then they had a junior season that did not live up to their expectations.
This year however, the class of 2022 is looking to flip the script and put a stamp on their high school careers.
They’ve done a good job of it so far, but the rain has done a great job of keeping the Rams off the field. When Mineral Ridge does get to play though, they’ve had plenty of success.
Boasting a 6-0 record and a 52-14 run differential, the Rams, led by a highly motivated group of seniors, mean business this year.
A big part of the team’s success this year has been its pitching.
Ty Tamburro, Mark Bunch, Payton Zupko and Trey Rigley have all manned the mound for at least two innings, surrendering a combined nine hits and six earned runs between them.
Bunch leads the way with 22 strikeouts across 11 innings pitched. Tamburro has recorded 16 across 11 innings.
“Our pitching has been pretty much ahead of the game, but now our hitting is coming along,” first-year coach Anthony Ragozine said. “We’ve had a couple of young guys step up and they’ve kind of brought what we need to the team to keep this going.
“Senior leadership has been off the charts. That was one thing that helped bring these young guys along, help us knock that rust off, is just the seniors who have been through this kind of grind early in the season helping those guys out.”
That leadership has also made Ragozine’s transition to the head coaching role much easier.
“It’s easy to coach when you don’t have to coach that much,” he said with a laugh.
“Those seniors out there. They’re out there. They’re our generals on the field helping these young guys telling them where they’ve got to be in each situation. It’s been really easy for me so far. We’ve got the brunt of our schedule coming up, but so far, so good.”
Obviously, the weather has impacted the non-conference schedules of teams area-wide and Mineral Ridge is no different. A tilt against Columbiana had to be cut to ensure they got league games with Waterloo in. They’ve kept some other challenges on the schedule with Pymatuning Valley, Mathews, Crestview and Niles all still being played. Conference or non-conference, Ragozine thinks the Rams are being tested no matter what. It’s hard not to feel challenged in the league when you face Springfield, Jackson-Milton and Western Reserve twice a season.
The constant canceling of games is naturally a big dip on morale, but the collective fire lit under Bunch, Bickerstaff, Tamburro, Aaron Myers and Zach James has kept the team hungry when things get rough.
“A lot of the guys didn’t get experience as freshmen and then they lost their sophomore year and last year wasn’t the season they expected, so they know this year is their last year, and they want to go on and prove for some doubters wrong,” Ragozine said. “I think that’s a big motivation for my seniors. … They want to go out and win something this year. That’s what has been carrying us through this crappy weather.”
The Rams are scheduled to play at Springfield today. First pitch is set for 5 p.m.
