Ryder Starkey continues ascent in New Home baseball's latest playoff triumph
SNYDER — Considering he hit the game-winning home run in Thursday's opening game of the Region I-2A semifinals, it was only fitting that Ryder Starkey got things started for the New Home baseball team on Saturday.
Looking to close out Stamford with a series sweep at Moffett Field, Starkey took the second pitch he saw high and deep into left field. The ball seemed to hang forever, hooking enough to appear destined to be a loud foul ball. Instead, the ball hit off the pole for a two-run home run.
Starkey's latest long ball ignited an eight-run first inning for the Leopards (33-3), who finished off the sweep with a 9-3 victory to secure their third consecutive trip to the region championship.
"It was our goal coming in was just set the tone early," Starkey said. "Score some runs on them, get up early, see if they just fall out of it. We can get up early and did we – scored a run, big hit got us going good, got the energy going good."
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New Home head coach Brady Webb has thought highly of Starkey since before the sophomore even got up to the varsity level. He was quickly inserted into the starting lineup and produced a solid freshman campaign. He's added to it by being one of the Leopards' most reliable players.
"It's very impressive what he did as a freshman," Webb said, "and he just kept improving. He's had a great sophomore year. Really proud of the work that he does, the way that he plays the game. I can't say enough good things about that young man."
The Leopards had several chances to put the Bulldogs away via the run-rule but came up short in four straight innings. One of those included an odd call where the Stamford catcher threw down to third after Starkey took a pitch. The home-plate ump ruled Starkey didn't get out of the way of the throw, leading to the final out of the inning for interference.
Stamford never really threatened in the game, though it managed a three-run six inning on a trio of errors and a balk. That, plus the Leopards being unable to get the back-breaking hits, kept the game going through the seventh.
Part of New Home's three-year run of success, which includes back-to-back trips to the state semifinals, means much is expected of the Leopards. So much so that six-run wins in the region semis could be seen as ho-hum. Even the team's trophy celebrations after clinching a series are more routine than jubilant.
To Webb, part of the challenge with this year's team is expecting more without also thinking it'll come easy.
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"Our expectation is to go to the state tournament," Webb said, "and our expectation is to try to win the thing. I still want to enjoy the wins. I still want to enjoy and be proud of what we do because (Stamford) is a good team. ... We're guilty sometimes if we didn't beat a team bad enough. ... It's a tough battle in a way."
Starkey and the players feel that as well.
"We've got to come in not expecting to kill everybody," Starkey said. "Sometimes we've come in with too big of a head and something unexpected will happen. ... We're just making sure we're still doing everything the right way. Not treating teams differently."
The Leopards will try to get back to the state tournament for a third year in a row when they face Hawley for the region title next week.
Now in his second year with the varsity, Starkey's importance has grown, as has his outlook. He moved up to the No. 2 spot in the batting order and is the everyday shortstop. The freshman jitters have subsided, and it has shown in his output.
"I've got a lot more confidence in myself," Starkey said, "and I'm not so anxious and doing stuff and just playing the way I play."
Region I-2A baseball semifinal
Game 2: New Home 9, Stamford 3
Stamford 000 003 0 — 3 5 1
New Home 800 100 X — 9 8 3
Alek Hernandez, Caden Moreno (1) and Alex Guzman. Brazos Beck and Owen Morris (7). W — Beck. L — Hernandez. 2B — Stamford, Cle Whitfield, Guzman; New Home — Ashton Lucio, Ryder Watkins, Cooper Brown. HR — Ryder Starkey.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Starkey continues ascent in New Home baseball's latest playoff triumph
