No Bones About It, Ogle Pitches Well

Improved pitching has been a key to the success of the UC Santa Barbara baseball team this season, and senior Rylie Ogle has played a major role.

Ogle, a Los Alamitos High graduate, came back strong after missing most of last season with a hip problem. He has a 10-2 record and 3.65 earned-run average as one the Gauchos’ three weekend starters this season.

A stress fracture in his hip limited Ogle to seven appearances and 29 2/3 innings last season. He began the season as a starter and had a 2-0 record, but pain in the hip forced him to the sidelines.

“I had a growing spurt that year, which is unusual for someone my age, and for some reason my hip apparently didn’t fuse properly,” Ogle said. ‘I had to have surgery and they shaved off a fraction of the bone.”

Santa Barbara Coach Bob Brontsema said Ogle has been solid on the mound all season for a team that finished the regular season 39-15.

“When we started fall practice we weren’t sure how healthy he was going to be, but he’s done well for us,” Brontsema said. “He didn’t pitch at all last summer, but he’s had no repercussions from the hip problem.”

Brontsema says Ogle has provided a good contrast in pitching style to Santa Barbara’s other top starter, James Garcia. “They’re totally different types of pitchers,” Brontsema said. “Garcia is a power pitcher who gets a lot of strikeouts, and Rylie is a guy who mixes his pitches well and has good control.”

Ogle originally signed with Long Beach State, but was a redshirt as a freshman and transferred to Long Beach College the next season. He posted a 5-3 record with a 3.71 earned-run average there before transferring to Santa Barbara.

Noteworthy

Junior second baseman Clemente Bonilla of Southeast Missouri State, an El Toro High graduate, was named the Ohio Valley Conference baseball player of the year. Bonilla is batting .388 with six homers and 34 RBIs. His sister, Erica Bonilla, played in 38 games, starting 31, for the Southeast Missouri softball team. She batted .188 with eight RBIs.

* Breanne Cooley, who played at Woodbridge High, was a regular as a freshman on the Harvard softball team that shared the Ivy League championship with Cornell. Harvard (22-23) lost a best-of-three playoff against Cornell for the conference’s berth in the NCAA playoffs. Cooley was three for four in one of the two losses and had one of five Harvard hits in the other game. Cooley started the season playing first base but finished at third. She batted .355, second on the team.

* Ryan Vorell and Chris Fusillo are playing key roles for the Cal Poly Pomona baseball team this season. Vorell, who played at Sonora High, is batting .319 with 13 homers and 54 RBIs. Fusillo, a Fountain Valley High grad, is batting .333 with five homers and 29 RBIs.

* Sacramento State senior Joseph Gilbert was selected to the Big Sky Conference first team in tennis. Gilbert finished the regular season with a 17-3 singles record.

* Notre Dame outfielder Lizzy Lemire (Woodbridge) was selected Big East Conference player of the year. She led the conference in runs scored with 18 and ranked second with a .383 batting average.

* Cal State Dominguez Hills third baseman RoAna Lutz was selected to the All-CCAA first team. Lutz (Canyon High) led the team with a .332 batting average, 34 RBIs and 15 doubles, all school records.

* Senior first baseman Ashley Boone (Woodbridge) became the first Florida player to be selected to the All-Southeastern Conference softball team three times. She is batting .317 with 33 RBIs.