By Robert Wilson
According to first-year Northwest Rankin baseball coach K.K. Aldridge, only one school – East Central Community College – has offered his junior outfielder-pitcher Ryan Herbison a college scholarship yet.
After this past week, many more might start offering.
Herbison hit a sizzling .888 (8 of 9 at bats) with 4 doubles, 1 triple, 6 runs batted in and 7 runs scored in three victories last week.
For his outstanding performance, Herbison has been named the Two Men and a Truck/Mississippi Scoreboard Metro Jackson Baseball Player of the Week.
Herbison went 3 for 3 (one double and two singles) with three runs scored and three RBIs in a 20-0 Class 6A, Region 6 victory Tuesday over Terry. He went 3 for 3 (two doubles and a single) with three runs scored and one RBI in a 9-4 6A, Region 6 victory Friday over Pearl. Herbison went 2 for 3 (a double and a triple) with one run scored and two RBIs in a 5-1 non-conference victory Saturday over Ridgeland. A right-handed pitcher, Herbison also pitched four innings in relief and allowed only one hit with seven strikeouts to pick up the save against Ridgeland.
Herbison is hitting .370 with 4 doubles, 3 triples, 2 home runs, 15 runs scored and 17 RBIs this season for 16-6 Northwest Rankin entering this week.
“Ryan really swung the bat well,” Aldridge said. “It seemed like everything found a barrel. He had some big hits for us, driving in runs and setting the table for the top of our lineup. Ryan started off the year a little slower than he would have liked, but he hit a couple of balls that got out of the park a couple of weeks ago, and he has been a more confident hitter since then.
“That was the sharpest outing on the mound in relief over his last few appearances. It looked like his velocity was up a bit, and his breaking ball had good movement.”
