Ty Ray will finish in style with Bellevue baseball, wants cherry on top with league crown
Things looked bleak after a difficult start to the season for Bellevue baseball.
The team had no energy in the Sandusky Bay Conference Lake Division. It also had no victories after two games.
Bellevue never gave up on it. It didn't flip a switch, but it started to toggle just in time.
Following five straight victories, including 9-1 over visiting defending champ Tiffin Columbian on Tuesday, the lights are on. A Bellevue (12-8, 8-3) victory Friday over visiting Sandusky (6-14, 2-7) would clinch a share of first place with Perkins (15-6, 9-3).
"I was worried," senior catcher/second baseman Ty Ray said. "We were playing bad. We were a bad team at the beginning. We started having fun, doing the little things. Back to basics a little. We got hot and saw our potential and we kept working and we see ourselves in contention for a league title.
"We turned it around. We reached the point we should have been at then. Maintain it and keep doing what we're doing. Our energy is on a completely different level. Every at-bat, the dugout is smiling and having fun. The energy is there."
Bellevue made an effort to refocus.
"Norwalk was an eye-opener," Ray said. "It's not like we right after that started playing amazing. It was a punch in the gut. We didn't want that to be our season. We started building, it wasn't a switch. 'This isn't how it's going to go.'
"It was piece by piece. We were dull and we didn't have an identity. We're heckling and having a blast."
Ray spearheaded the resurgence on the mound and with his bat. He's the only returning varsity player and he was determined to provide a spark when he saw the team couldn't get out of the gate.
"No matter the situation, I try to bring enthusiasm and energy," he said. "The whole team bought in with energy. They were right there with me with a mindset to get it done. The entire team put in their two cents.
"They weren't just words, they had power. It was a collective attempt and everyone bought in. That's not the way we wanted the season to go. The coaches played a big role. It was more players-based, but it's been the whole group."
A three-sport leader with a decorated career, Ray was first-team all-state at receiver as Bellevue earned a postseason victory and honorable mention all-Ohio as the basketball team surprised many with a 16-7 record and third-place finish in the SBC Lake Division.
He helped Ed Nasonti (football) and Andy Dennings (baseball) maintain winning tradition. He was hungry to help Ed Rich's basketball program take the next step.
"Coming in to high school, the one goal was to be the best athlete I could be in all three sports," he said. "Now, coming to an end, I hope the guys below me and the guys I connected with can bring the same energy and enthusiasm I tried to bring for every practice and game in al three sports.
"I hope it sticks when I'm gone. I hope guys look up to me and use what I did as motivation. I want them to stay hungry and keep the tradition of Bellevue Redmen rolling."
Ray (5-2) has 65 strikeouts and 13 walks in 42 innings with a 0.83 ERA this season.
"The way we were playing at the beginning motivated us," he said. "I've been pitching in important league games. I've been on for a little burst of momentum, energy for the team."
Zayne Claus (3-3) has 23 strikeouts and eight walks in 27⅓ innings with a 4.35 ERA. Cody Lindsey has a 1.33 ERA, with 25 strikeouts and 18 walks in 21 innings.
Logan Damron (2-1) has 24 strikeouts and 31 walks in 18 ⅔ innings with a 4.13 ERA. He's allowed 12 unearned runs.
"Guys are making plays that should have been made early in the season," Ray said. "Playing cleaner all together is something we've been doing. At the plate and in the field, they go hand in hand. You don't want to take a bad play to the plate."
Ray is batting .397 with 14 walks, 11 runs, 10 stolen bases and nine RBI. He struck out nine times in 58 at-bats.
"Everyone wants to be the best athlete you can be," he said. "For me, since middle school I wanted to go through and be one of the best athletes. Baseball, it was rough the way it started. Maybe I was doing something wrong and I would have ended my legacy here on a bad note.
"This would be the perfect way to close as a senior. I was dedicated to three sports. The final time in red and white with a league championship would be a perfect ending for me. It would be that much sweeter, now.
"One more game and it's ours. It's sweeter coming after we struggled. My legacy was threatened by a slow start, but as Bellevue always does we pulled through and here we are."
Seth Bova is batting .317, Carter Ruffing has 12 RBI and nine runs, and Lindsey has 10 RBI. Claus is batting .281 with 14 runs and nine RBI, and Drew Dennings is batting .278 with 17 runs, 16 walks and 14 stolen bases.
"Seth moved up to leadoff," Ray said. "He was barreling balls left and right. Sam Hosang stepped up tremendously making great plays at shortstop. Cody same thing at third base. He's been hitting well."
Dylan Barger scored 13 runs and Caden Cramer is batting .286. Cramer and Barger each notched a win on the mound.
"Carter in right field, he's batting runs in whether bunting or finding gaps," Ray said. "He and Zayne have found ways to get runs in."
Bellevue beat Vermilion twice Saturday on the day of Bellevue prom.
"We resumed the first game in the top of the 11th at home as the road team," Ray said. "We put up three runs and then won the second game. That's not easy. If we lose that inning we're out of contention. It's a challenge to get your mind right for one inning.
"We got it done."
Ray tossed a 1-0 shutout against Clyde last week. Dennings went from first to third on a single from Ray and scored on a sacrifice fly from Claus.
"We scored in the first inning," Ray said. "Getting out of that one alive, playing clean baseball that was a huge win for the league."
Ray shut Columbian out for six innings Tuesday.
"As soon as we realized winning out could mean a share of the league championship, guys on our own team might not have seen that coming," Ray said. "Once we saw that as an opportunity, then playing Tiffin was electric.
"They were hitting the ball all over the park but guys made play after play. I had six strikeouts, that says a lot about the defense. To go out and take it to them the way we did was amazing. It was perfect. It's like a movie.
"We started poorly, worked, worked, worked, it all came together and we shut out Tiffin for six innings."
Bellevue lost 2-1 to Norwalk and 10-0 to Perkins to start the season. It lost 3-1 to Perkins for a 3-3 record, and hasn't dropped a division game since.
"Our overall chemistry didn't seem to be there," Ray said. "Our approach at the plate was poor. We made uncharacteristic errors. Everything was out of sorts. The first loss to Norwalk, there was a lack of teamwork.
"Since then, things have changed. [A crown] would mean so much, especially from where the season began. I don't know if guys expected to be in contention and we're one step away from getting a banner hung.
"It would mean the world to see the season turn like that."
Ray was nothing short of concerned early in the season. The way things started wasn't what it looks like to be a Bellevue athlete.
Not only that, after working for an opportunity to go out in style, that scenario was in serious jeopardy for Ray. He already has plenty of reason to be satisfied.
"Absolutely, but the job's not finished," Ray said. "Win against Sandusky and then I'll be content. Second place isn't good enough for anybody on the team. We came all this way, we made adjustments and bettered ourselves.
"We didn't do all that for Perkins to win it outright."
mhorn@gannett.com
419-307-4892
Twitter: @MatthewHornNH
This article originally appeared on Fremont News-Messenger: Bellevue baseball making plays it should have made early in season
