06-26-2009, 09:17 AM
As a note, I coach the 15u Blegrass Bisons. The Bluegrass Organization has risen to a level that is putting 10-15+ kids a year in college baseball. This is a tremendous article about our 16u coach.
http://nky.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/...906260373/
They may no longer be known as the Erlanger Lions, but the Bluegrass Lions have the same kind of game.
"Not only do we want to help make kids better ballplayers, but we want to teach them how to play the game the right way," Lions coach Bob Myerhoff said.
The Lions changed their name two years ago, but Myerhoff remains head coach, with less off-field duties.
"I still enjoy it," he said. "I get to do more coaching now and we are part of an organization that will help us broaden the program."
Myerhoff, who engineered Beechwood High School's Ninth Region championship with a victory over Covington Catholic, applies his folksy, good-humored and well-informed teachings to 16-year-olds on the verge of breakthroughs.
"We want our guys hustling on and off the field, wearing their uniform right and focusing on what they're doing," the coach said. "We tell 'em, hey, this is a marathon, not a sprint. It's important to practice hard, play hard and compete every single day. That's how you get better, and it enhances their chances to go to the next level."
Nick Ritter, a shortstop and pitcher, is one player who seems to have taken Myerhoff's teachings to heart, with dramatic results. Ritter, an incoming junior at Holy Cross, has showed excellent comportment and has improved in all phases in the first 17 games of the Lions' schedule of 45-50 games, including eight tournaments.
The Lions are 14-3, following a 13-1 start. They recently had a 10-game winning streak snapped.
"Ritter's just been on fire at the plate. He's hitting clean-up and just crushing the ball," Myerhoff said. "He looks like a ballplayer, and that's what people want to see."
Other up-and-coming players for the Lions include closer Chris Hensley of Ryle, pitcher Jordan Cummins from Grant County, and Beechwood pitchers Zach Larimore and Josh Bertke.
Bertke's persistence on the diamond is especially compelling.
Myerhoff explains:
"The kid was pitching six innings against 18-year-olds with stomach cramps in a tournament in Tennessee in 97-degree heat at 6 p.m. Saturday. And by 6 a.m. Sunday, he was having his appendix taken out at St. Elizabeth's hospital. The doctors say he can come back after July 4, and Josh says he'll be ready. He's a competitor, and he's the same way on the mound."
Thanks in part to Bertke's heroics, the Lions won the Smoky Mountain Classic in Gatlinburg last weekend. This week, they are competing in a field of 100 teams at the Battle of the Borders Tournament being played at several sites, including Dixie Heights, Simon Kenton and Villa Madonna.
There are 21 teams in the 16-under bracket with the Lions, who finished Thursday's first-day action splitting two games. They lost 6-4 in their opener against Middie Pride of Middletown, Ohio.
The Lions bounced back to defeat the Cincinnati Titans, 5-4, as Conner's Jonathan Roberts went 3-for-4 with a run-scoring single, an RBI double and two runs scored.
"We're blessed with a lot of good pitchers, and that's good because we don't want to pitch them too much or their high school coaches are going to get mad at me," Myerhoff said. "We let them go a few innings at a time and then we trot another guy out there.
"We're not a power-hitting team. We're more of a line-drive and run team. We pride ourselves on putting some hits together and moving runners around any way we can. And we want them doing everything the right way the whole time. That's why we're here."
http://nky.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/...906260373/
They may no longer be known as the Erlanger Lions, but the Bluegrass Lions have the same kind of game.
"Not only do we want to help make kids better ballplayers, but we want to teach them how to play the game the right way," Lions coach Bob Myerhoff said.
The Lions changed their name two years ago, but Myerhoff remains head coach, with less off-field duties.
"I still enjoy it," he said. "I get to do more coaching now and we are part of an organization that will help us broaden the program."
Myerhoff, who engineered Beechwood High School's Ninth Region championship with a victory over Covington Catholic, applies his folksy, good-humored and well-informed teachings to 16-year-olds on the verge of breakthroughs.
"We want our guys hustling on and off the field, wearing their uniform right and focusing on what they're doing," the coach said. "We tell 'em, hey, this is a marathon, not a sprint. It's important to practice hard, play hard and compete every single day. That's how you get better, and it enhances their chances to go to the next level."
Nick Ritter, a shortstop and pitcher, is one player who seems to have taken Myerhoff's teachings to heart, with dramatic results. Ritter, an incoming junior at Holy Cross, has showed excellent comportment and has improved in all phases in the first 17 games of the Lions' schedule of 45-50 games, including eight tournaments.
The Lions are 14-3, following a 13-1 start. They recently had a 10-game winning streak snapped.
"Ritter's just been on fire at the plate. He's hitting clean-up and just crushing the ball," Myerhoff said. "He looks like a ballplayer, and that's what people want to see."
Other up-and-coming players for the Lions include closer Chris Hensley of Ryle, pitcher Jordan Cummins from Grant County, and Beechwood pitchers Zach Larimore and Josh Bertke.
Bertke's persistence on the diamond is especially compelling.
Myerhoff explains:
"The kid was pitching six innings against 18-year-olds with stomach cramps in a tournament in Tennessee in 97-degree heat at 6 p.m. Saturday. And by 6 a.m. Sunday, he was having his appendix taken out at St. Elizabeth's hospital. The doctors say he can come back after July 4, and Josh says he'll be ready. He's a competitor, and he's the same way on the mound."
Thanks in part to Bertke's heroics, the Lions won the Smoky Mountain Classic in Gatlinburg last weekend. This week, they are competing in a field of 100 teams at the Battle of the Borders Tournament being played at several sites, including Dixie Heights, Simon Kenton and Villa Madonna.
There are 21 teams in the 16-under bracket with the Lions, who finished Thursday's first-day action splitting two games. They lost 6-4 in their opener against Middie Pride of Middletown, Ohio.
The Lions bounced back to defeat the Cincinnati Titans, 5-4, as Conner's Jonathan Roberts went 3-for-4 with a run-scoring single, an RBI double and two runs scored.
"We're blessed with a lot of good pitchers, and that's good because we don't want to pitch them too much or their high school coaches are going to get mad at me," Myerhoff said. "We let them go a few innings at a time and then we trot another guy out there.
"We're not a power-hitting team. We're more of a line-drive and run team. We pride ourselves on putting some hits together and moving runners around any way we can. And we want them doing everything the right way the whole time. That's why we're here."