August 10, 2009

Former Tiger called up to the Big Leagues

After several years of hard work and determination, former Cowley college baseball standout Rusty Ryal got the call he had been waiting for. Early Monday morning Ryal received word he was being promoted from Triple A Reno (NV) to the major league roster of the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Ryal, who played at Cowley during the 2002 and 2003 seasons, was batting .294 with 17 home runs and 70 runs batted in for the Reno Aces. He also swatted 32 doubles during his first season playing at the Triple A level.

Cowley head baseball coach Dave Burroughs said he received a call from Ryal at 2:45 a.m. Monday morning with the news that Ryal was on his way to join the big league club.

“Whenever I got that call I was very excited for him, he has worked hard at this game to get to this point,” Burroughs said.

Ryal’s stellar play at Reno earned him a spot on the Pacific Coast League All-Star team. While at Reno, Ryal split time at second base, third base and shortstop.

During the 2008 season at Double A Mobile (AL), Ryal led the team in home runs (16), runs scored (65), and RBIs (66).

Prior to his professional career, Ryal spent two seasons at Cowley and two years at Oklahoma State University. As a freshman at Cowley, Ryal earned honorable mention all-conference honors as he batted .390 with no homers and 34 runs batted in.

As a sophomore, Ryal was a first-team all-conference selection at shortstop as he batted .441 with 58 RBIs. Along with his prowess at the plate, Ryal was equally effective as a fielder.

He was drafted by the Diamondbacks in the 14th round of the 2005 Major League Baseball amateur draft after batting .300 with seven home runs and 43 RBIs as a senior at OSU.

Ryal’s father, Mark, played outfield for parts of seven seasons with the Royals, White Sox, Angels, Phillies and Pirates.