By Bob Nuse, Sports Editor
Matt Ryan is making the most of a tough situation this year., A senior on the Montgomery High baseball team, Ryan is unable to pitch for the Cougars this year due to off-season arm surgery. But that hasn’t stopped Ryan from making a big contribution for the Cougars this season., While his injury has kept him off the mound this season, it hasn’t stopped him from making an impact at the plate. Last Saturday, Ryan’s three-run double in the bottom of the sixth broke a 6-6 tie and helped Montgomery to a 10-6 win over Morristown. The Cougars followed that win with a 4-2 win over North Hunterdon on Tuesday to improve to 9-0 on the season., “I had Tommy John surgery,” Ryan said. “I would normally be a pitcher, but I am still coming back from that. Hopefully I will be able to play some first base at some point in the season and maybe get back on the mound in the summer., “It’s much better than riding the pine. I am more of a pitcher. I am going to play in college and pitch so that is what I am going to be focusing on. It’s fun to be swinging the bat well lately. That’s my focus right now.”, Ryan has a pair of home runs and a team-high 14 runs batted in through the first nine games this season. He’s been used as a designated hitter and helped contribute to a perfect start to the season with .357 batting average., “It’s been fantastic,” Ryan said. “Our record looks great but our heads aren’t getting big or anything. We’re trying to stay even headed and focus on what we have to do. That’s been our attitude. Every day is a new game and we’re not trying to do too much. We’re just trying to play and have fun and we’re doing well so far.”, Nine straight wins to start the season is about as good as it gets for the Cougars. They faced a huge challenge against Morristown and rallied for the win after letting a 5-1 lead slip away., “We were faced with adversity,” said Ryan, who will attend the University of Delaware, where he plans to pitch for the Blue Hens. “But I think we have a team of fighters. We always just try and stay loose and go about our business. That’s really what we did. We didn’t panic. We tried to stay calm and fight through it.”, That kind of calm and fight was what Montgomery coach Peter Mueller was hoping to see from his team, which was scheduled to face Immaculata on Thursday and will play Mendham on Friday., “We have had some things go our way,” Mueller said. “We’re showing some resiliency. We need games like this for a lot of reasons. I need to learn about my team and what they do at certain moments and are moments too big or can they handle them. And we need to play under adversity to get experience and also see how we handle it.”, One thing Mueller knows he can count on is a contribution from Ryan, who has handled what could have been a tough situation very well., “He’s able to feel a part of it,” Mueller said of Ryan, who was 5-2 as a pitcher last season for the Cougars. “He’s focused in trying to do his part. He’s taking extra batting practice and doing all the things that he thought he never had a lot of time for because of the pitching component. He not has time for those things. He’s athletic and he’s a big part of our lineup., “He’s in the five hole right now. He has a lot of varsity swings under his belt because he played last year, too. He’s capable of hitting the ball out of the park. He has a couple home runs this year and he hammered that double in there (against Morristown).”, Ryan has managed to make the most out of a tough situation and has continued to work hard., “When the injury happened and we knew he could probably swing for us we said, well now you can get in the cage early in January and February and start working yourself as a hitter.” Mueller said. “Normally that time is devoted to pitching drills and skills. Hitting was always a secondary thing.”, Added Ryan: “I am just taking it nice and easy and helping these guys out. We have a great team that plays well together. With Mike (Patrizio) at short, he’s the fastest kid I have ever seen on the bases. Lance Palmer, Andrew Case, Vic (Avancha), really all of our pitchers this year have picked it up a ton. They are doing a great job so far being aggressive. They all have great stuff. Everything is coming together the best it can.”
