Former Charlestown Pirate Baseball player Tyler Willinger will continue his baseball career at Western Kentucky University this fall as a preferred walk on with the Hilltoppers.

Tyler just finished his sophomore season at Calhoun Community College in Decatur, Alabama. Calhoun finished the season 15-25, but Tyler posted great numbers this year. In 35 games played, he batted .340 with a .432 on base percentage. He also had 5 doubles, 18 walks and only struck out 9 times in 128 plate appearances. As in high school, Tyler continued to shine defensively with 63 putouts, 3 assists and no errors on the season.

“I am very proud of Tyler and wish him all the best as he continues his next chapter in life at WKU. I’m sure he will be very successful”, commented Pirate Head Coach Ricky Romans.

(Photo courtesy of calhoun.edu/athletics/baseball)

Pirate for life Slugger Ryan Jones, who signed an intent to play baseball at Owens College in Ohio this upcoming school year, has been selected to the 2015 Indiana Class 3A First Team All – State by the Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association (IHSBCA).  Jones will play outfield, representing the South, in the Saturday, July 11th North-South All-Star game in Terre Haute, Indiana.  Jones, who was also named All Mid-Southern Conference, joins only two other local players (Floyd Central’s Fulton, and North Harrison’s Napper) on the South All-Star team.  The game will be played at Indiana State University’s Bob Warn Field.  Jones, through 23 games his Senior season with Charlestown, finished with a .514 batting average, while scoring a team leading 37 runs off 37 hits.  Jones also led the Pirates with 34 stolen bases this past season and finished with a .913 fielding percentage.  Ryan Jones is also Charlestown’s All-Time Hit leader, finishing his career with 140.  Congratulations to Ryan and best of luck representing not only Charlestown, but the South All-Stars in next weekend’s All-Star game.

The Pirate Baseball team moved to 21-6 on the season and concluded regular season play with a 6-4 win over New Albany Monday afternoon.  The Bulldogs (15-14) scored two runs in the top of the first and two in the seventh; but not enough to out pace the host Pirates.  New Albany finished the game with ten hits and three errors; but only earned four runs in the loss.  The Pirates finished with six hits and no errors.  Pirate Austin Smith (7-1) got the win from the mound in 6 2/3 innings, walking three and striking three out.  “A great team win today.  Austin threw the ball well and we did a great job with the bats and played solid defense”, complimented Head Coach Ricky Romans.  Dewey Cardwell finished two for four from the plate, leading the Pirates; while Drew Reich and Zach Ramirez added doubles.  The Pirates will now begin Sectional play Wednesday evening at North Harrison, versus arch-rival Silver Creek, for a 7:30 pm first pitch.  Sectional games can be heard live via www.CPPSB.com.

The Pirates made the three hour trek to Oxford, Indiana Saturday to play in the annual Bison Invitational; then made it more than worth their time in topping Western and host Benton Central High School to win the Invitational in convincing style.  Benton Central High School is located just northwest of Lafayette, Indiana; and provided the venue for Senior Pirate Ryan Jones (shown left) to become Charlestown’s All Time Hits Leader.  Jones, who signed to play college ball at Owens Junior College after high school, broke baseball’s big record Saturday with a two run homer in the top of the 3rd inning against Western.  The home run gave Jones hit number 137 for his career; breaking the old record of 136 hits held by former Pirate Cameron Metzger.  Jones will continue to expand his record pace through the rest of the season; as coming into Saturday’s Invitational he sported a .522 batting average after 86 plate appearances this season.

Charlestown squared off with the Western Panthers in their first Bison Invitational match-up; a Class 3A school located east of Lafayette in north central Indiana.  The Pirates fell behind 4-0 early in the contest; however tied the game at four in the top of fourth with help from the Jones’ record breaking two run homer in the third.  The shootout was on for an inning and a half until the top of the seventh, when the Pirates had enough.  The Panthers (9-11) scored two runs in the bottom of four and three in five before being cut off by the Pirate defense.  The Panthers led 9-6 going to the top of the sixth; when the Pirates added three runs in the top of the sixth and six big runs in the top of seven to put Western away for the day.  Senior Dalton Brown (2-2) got the win in relief, pitching three innings, and striking out three.  Charlestown scored 15 runs off 13 hits and committed three errors; while Western scored 9 runs off 10 hits and also committed three errors.  Senior Ryan Jones, in addition to becoming Charlestown’s new All Time Hits Leader, finished 3 of 4 at the plate, including two home runs, five RBI’s and plated four times.  Junior Zach Ramirez finished 4 of 4 in his trips to the plate, scoring three times and batting in two more runs.

The 15-9 win over Western advanced the Pirates to meet the host Bison in the Invitational Championship game.  Colin Martin (3-2) got the mound call for the Pirates, pitching a complete seven inning game, striking out nine, allowing seven hits, one walk, and one earned run to pick up the Championship bout win versus Benton Central 5-1.  Benton Central’s (16-10) lone run came in the bottom of the third, as seven team hits produced one run behind Charlestown’s defense.  Charlestown scored five runs on five hits and committed one error; the Bison committed two in the same game.  Pirate Junior Dewey Cardwell led the winning team at the plate, finishing two for four with a double; while Junior Tanner Wesp finished 1 for 3 with a home run and two RBI’s.  “Today was a great day of baseball.  We showed a lot of heart in the first game and Colin pitched extremely well in the championship game.  Great team wins today”, summarized Pirate Skipper Ricky Romans.

The Pirates (20-6) will return home Sunday and host New Albany on Monday at 11:00 am; a game that will be broadcasted by CPPSB at www.CPPSB.com; then begin Sectional play Wednesday at North Harrison High School versus Silver Creek (5:30 pm first pitch).

 

Pirate Baseball won their seventh consecutive game and improved to 18-5 on the season by dispatching New Washington 19-2 in non-conference play Thursday evening.  Additionally, Head Coach Ricky Romans tallied high school coaching career win number 200 in the process.  The Pirates scored four runs in the first and twelve runs in the second to over-power the visiting Mustangs (9-9); finishing with 15 hits and one error.  Colin Martin (2-2) got the win from the mound for the Pirates; while Brandon Love finished 3-4 from the plate, including a double, three RBI’s and three runs scored.  David Rodriguez finished 4-4 at the plate, including three doubles, a home run, four RBI’s and three runs scored.  “Brandon and David played extremely well tonight and took advantage of their opportunities, which is great to see.  They were ready to play and ready to step up when their number was called”, commented Head Coach Ricky Romans after the win.  The Pirates will now travel to Oxford Indiana on Saturday to compete in the annual Benton Central High School Bison Invitational.  Follow Charlestown Pirate Pride Sports Broadcasting on Twitter for updates and the PiratePride.BLUE website for results.

The Charlestown Pirate Baseball team moved to 17-5 with a 6-1 road victory over Lanesville; while Coach Romans becomes Pirate Baseball’s winningest coach with a record of 199-121.  Austin Smith (6-1) collected the victory from the mound in 5 2/3 innings pitched.  Smith allowed six hits, walked one, allowed only one earned run and struck out five in the win.  Ryan Jones led the Pirates from the plate, finishing 2-3; while scoring two runs and collecting a RBI.  Dewey Cardwell finished 2-4 for at the plate, including a double and two RBI’s.  Lanesville plated a run in the bottom of the first, then the Pirates poured it on in the sixth and seventh innings; scoring two and four runs respectively.  “We did a great job sticking with it tonight after being behind most of the game.  Give credit to Lanesville’s pitcher, he did a nice job keeping us off track early.  As a veteran team though, it was good to see our guys come through with the game on the line,” commented Pirate Head Coach Romans.  The Pirates host New Washington Thursday beginning at 5:30pm.

Charlestown Pirate Baseball’s Head Coach Ricky Romans is a stickler for details, and has proven time after time that its the details that take you places in the long run.  Coach Romans took the Charlestown helm in 2004, and a situation where the Pirates hadn’t won more than nine games in each of its prior four seasons.  It took Romans just one season to return the Pirates back to winning form, of which he has steadily improved on ever since.  Romans holds everyone around his program to a higher level than the local average, and its made Pirate Nation a better and highly respected local baseball hub as a result.  Romans pits the Pirates against the toughest competition around for a reason, the details.  The 11th ranked Pirates are in the midst of another successful season, Mid-Southern Conference Champions, and 16-5 record going into tonights (Wednesday) non-conference match-up versus Lanesville.  What the Lanesville game isn’t about, if you ask Coach Romans, is milestones his personal coaching record is on the brink of accomplishing.  Coach Romans will correct you with what his program’s obvious main objectives currently are this season.  Pirate Baseball Head Coach Ricky Romans, in his 12th season at Charlestown, has 198 wins and only 121 losses.  Coach Romans is obviously two wins away from a 200 win coaching milestone at Charlestown; but also one win away from passing former Coach Mike Hall as the winningest Pirate Baseball Coach in Charlestown history.  Good luck to the Pirates as they travel to Lanesville tonight, Saturday as they compete in the Benton Central Invitational, and next week versus New Albany and Sectional #30 play; but also THANK YOU COACH ROMANS for taking care of the details moving the Pirate Baseball program up and ahead of the average.