Derrick Webb, Staff Writer
Southern Ohio Sports Authority is presented by OhioHealth.
OAK HILL — Rather quickly this season, Oak Hill’s Rylan Sams asserted his dominance.
CREDIT: Brock Netter/SOSA
The right-hander made the first start of his senior campaign way back on March 27 and proceeded to strike out 10 hitters over 5 ⅔ innings of work in a 3-2 win over Minford.
Since that day, it’s only been more of the same.
Heading into the Oaks’ final two regular season games, Sams is 6-3 on the mound with a 1.55 ERA in 54 ⅔ innings alongside a 111-27 strikeout-walk ratio. He’s also hitting .424 with 15 extra-base hits, 22 runs scored, 13 RBIs and 12 stolen bases.
In other words, he’s as advertised.
Before Oak Hill fine-tunes things heading into a tournament run — one that will start with a Division III sectional final matchup against Lynchburg-Clay on May 18 — we caught up with Sams to discuss his success on the rubber, his team’s potential and much more.
Question: I think it’s fair to say that not a lot of people saw the type of success you guys have had this year coming. What’s been the key to that success?
Answer: The key to that success is us, as a team, playing to what we’re capable of, and trusting one another to do the job. We have been told all season by our coaches to do whatever it takes, and to this point we have.
Q: You’ve got a lineup jam-packed with talent. How much fun is it to play with this group? What’s your favorite part about it?
A: We have a talented group of guys on our team. They are all athletes that play baseball and different sports, from our seniors who have played all their life to our young guys on the team who help out tremendously. My favorite part of this whole team is the way we can connect and are like family with one another.
Q: Dominant doesn’t begin to describe you on the hill. What’s your mindset going into each start?
A: I pride myself in my pitching. It’s what I love doing the most on the field. My mindset going into every start is to just throw strikes and do whatever it takes for me as a player to give my team the best shot at winning the game.
Q: The SOC is good from top to bottom. You can get beat on any given night. What makes your conference so special in terms of talent and parity?
A: Every team in the SOC is good and is capable of winning. The talent is off the charts, especially the pitching. That is what makes this league special. Everyone in the SOC has 1-2 guys that can go into a game and shut it down.
Q: If you had to pick a favorite moment this season, what would it be and why?
A: I have a couple of favorite moments from this year. One moment is winning the Wheelersburg game. It has been a while since Oak Hill has beaten Wheelersburg in anything. So it was a great experience to beat them my senior year. Another moment was my three home-run game, which almost felt surreal.
Q: How far can this team go? What’s it going to take to rip off a lengthy postseason run?
A: To go on a run this year in the tournament, we are going to have to be perfect on the field and on the mound. There is no room for mistakes once tournament time comes, and most of all, we need to swing our bats. We have struggled recently finding our bats. But if we can find them, like I know we can, we can be dangerous.
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