With the recent rain, ice and cold weather, it is hard to imagine the spring sports seasons are ready to begin.
However, that is exactly the case as Ryan is set to open its 2018 baseball campaign today, weather permitting.
The slow-pitch softball squad and track squads will open their seasons soon.
The Cowboy nine is scheduled to play host to Temple today at the Bob Givens Sports Complex. Action is scheduled to get underway on Larry Ninman Field at 4:30 p.m. and will feature both the junior high and high school teams against the Tigers.
Ryan will also host a junior high tournament Monday and Tuesday at the Bob Givens Sports Complex.
The Cowboy baseball squad will have a new coach for the first time in 11 years. Stan Mueggenborg, who has directed the Cowboys for the past 11 seasons, has stepped over to take the reigns of the Cowgirl slow-pitch softball squad.
Judd Matthes will be the coach for the Cowboys and will face somewhat of a rebuilding year on the diamond for Ryan.
Last season the Cowboys were 6-9 – only the second losing season in the past 11 years.
The Cowboys will return up to five starters from the 2017 club and will also get the talents of last year’s junior high standout – Grayson Tomberlin.
The Cowboy nine will be looking to post a winning season and possibly snag a district title.
The key will be finding a dependable pitcher as the Cowboys graduated their two top pitchers from a year ago – Sebastian Morales and J.D. Martin.
The Cowboys will be solid behind the plate with veteran Dawson Tomberlin returning for his senior season. Joseph Martin and River Williams will be counted on to also provide some fireworks at the plate.
The Cowboys will be competing in Class B again in the 2018 season, but will no doubt face a tough road to a deep playoff run as many of the Class B schools do not play football and enjoy the advantage of an extra 30 games or so from playing fall baseball.
The Cowgirl slow-pitch softball squad will be in action for their season-opener on Monday as Ryan will host Lawton Christian School. The first pitch is slated for 4:30 p.m. and will feature both the junior high and high school squads in action.
While slow-pitch softball has not been a highly successful sport since its inception in the 1998 season, the Cowgirls did post a 5-6 mark a year ago and were the district runner up for only the second time in school history.
And, in the fast-pitch season last fall Ryan managed a 16-13 record – the first winning season in fast pitch softball in the 18 years of competition.
Most of the contributors to the fast-pitch team will also be aiding the cause of the slow-pitch squad in Coach Mueggenborg’s initial season at the helm.
Abbie Bolin, Kenzie Lewis and Sadie Guzman, who were all-conference selections in the fall, will return to bolster the Cowgirl hopes.
Bolin, Lewis and Randi Linton are the three seniors on the squad and will be counted on to provide leadership to the rest of the squad which is consists of a number of sophomores.
The Cowgirls will return to action Tuesday when the host Grandfield.
Track will be the final spring sport to get started.
The Cowboy and Cowgirl thinclads will travel to Wynnewood on March 15 to compete in the Wynnewood Invitational. The two squads will compete as individuals as no team scores will be kept in the meet. Field events will begin at 9:30 a.m. with the track events beginning at 10 a.m.
The Cowgirls should be contenders in most meets they enter this spring.
Ryan’s girls won their first invitational meet title last season since 1990 and most of the contributors to the team scoring return for the 2018 season.
The Cowgirls finished fifth in the team race at the regional meet in 2018 and that tied for the second highest finish in a regional meet in school history.
All the girls who scored points for the Cowgirls in the regional meet will return for the 2018 season including Lily York, Samantha Good, Holland Carter and Juliet Spangler.
The Cowboy track squad may have limited participation but should have athletes that will score points at any meet they are able to compete in.
D. Tomberlin and Joseph Martin, along with River Williams, will be some of the Cowboys that return from seeing limited competition on the track in 2017.
For both the Cowboys and Cowgirls to compete for any team titles, some depth will have to be added to the squads.
Coach Steve Spangler will begin his second year as the coach of the Cowboy and Cowgirl track squads.
Ryan Baseball Schedule
March 1 Temple
March 8 at Turner
March 9 Waurika
March 12 Comanche
March 13 at Grandfield
March 26 at Thackerville
March 27 Turner
March 29 at Comanche
April 3 at Big Pasture
April 5-7 Ryan Invitational
April 10 at Waurika/Dickson
April 12 Grandfield
April 13 Alex
April 16 at Geronimo/Waurika
Ryan Slow-Pitch Softball Schedule
March 5 Lawton Christian
March 6 Grandfield
March 13 at Temple
March 15 Big Pasture
March 26 Comanche
March 29 Geronimo
April 2 at Big Pasture
April 3 at Geronimo
April 5 at Grandfield
April 10 Temple
April 12-13 Fletcher Tournament
Ryan Track Schedule
March 15 at Wynnewood Invitational
March 27 at Alex 8-Man Invitational
April 6 at Stratford Invitational
April 13 at Waurika Southern Oklahoma 8-Man Invitational
April 21 at Waurika Red River Invitational
April 24 at Velma-Alma Comet Invitational
