Thursday, March 12, 2009
This past summer the Minnesota Twins spent a draft pick trying to bring a hard throwing right-hander from Shawnee Mission West High School named Lee Ridenhour into the fold.
Kansas fans now understand why.
Ridenhour threw a gem of a game against the Wichita State Shockers Wednesday night, going eight scoreless innings on only three hits with five strikeouts. Ridenhour, Lenexa freshman, said it was about as well as he could throw, and his teammates and coaches seemed to agree.
“He was absolutely fabulous. That’s probably the best outing I’ve ever seen since I’ve been here,” junior Robby Price said, later mentioning that he’d even put it on the same level as Shaeffer Hall’s no-hitter that started the season.
For Ridenhour, it was a chance to show Wichita State, who lost a recruiting battle with the Jayhawks for his services, what they had missed out on.
“What can you say,” Ridenhour said. “In-state rival, coming in here wearing white pants, all cocky like they own the place. Home pants, like it’s their place. Knowing the guys, a couple players on their team, I really wanted to beat them bad. Eight to zero. So, I was happy.”
Coach Ritch Price stayed away from the subject of Wichita State wearing home uniforms in Hoglund, but he was more than happy to talk about his prize freshman arm.
“We’ve been looking for a signature player ever since I got here,” Price said. “When you’re trying to be a top-25 program, it starts on the mound.”
Price compared Ridenhour to former Wichita State pitchers Mike Pelfrey and Darren Dreifort, who both went on to have major league careers — Pelfrey now plays with the New York Mets, Dreifort is retired — in that he had the ability to take a program to the next level.
But that’s all in the future.
Right now, Price is trying to take things slowly with Ridenhour, who has unquestionably thrown well enough to earn a spot in the weekend rotation and may be the Jayhawks best pitcher thus far. Price wants to keep Ridenhour as a midweek starter and throw him out of the bullpen on weekends, however, saying that if a team can win “10 Tuesdays” they can make the NCAA tournament.
There was no question with Price about his talent though.
“He is the highest-profile freshman we have had walk on the mound since I have been here. Certainly since the beginning of the season he has been an impact freshman,” he said. “One of the best freshman in the country.”
— — Edited by Realle Roth
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