CatsPause.com - Understated Strieby leading baseball revival

May 2, 2006

Matt May
CatsPause.com Staff Writer

Spend a few minutes with John Cohen and the man's enthusiasm is as contagious as a toddler's chicken pox. The third-year Kentucky baseball coach came to Lexington with a plan to resurrect a success-challenged program.

The foundation has taken hold at Cliff Hagan Stadium, as the Cats have vaulted from a Southeastern Conference bottom feeder to the No. 11 team in the nation this season. It has come with hard work, vision, confidence and talented players.

Of course, having a player the caliber of Ryan Strieby has certainly made that pogo stick-jump up into the conference's elite much more plausible. In fact, Cohen ? who played at Mississippi State and coached at Florida ? believes one blast from Strieby's aluminum bat might have just changed the complexion of UK baseball forever.

On a beautiful Saturday night for baseball, playing in front of a packed house, the 6-foot-6 Washington native belted a soaring three-run home run that sailed just to the left field side on the monstrous blue batter's eye in dead center field. The bomb gave UK the second victory in a three-game sweep of No. 7 South Carolina and left Cohen with the feeling that things had changed with the program.

"The thing that really tells it all (about Strieby) is he had tough at bats all night and wasn't swinging well, then all of the sudden he finds the baseball and really changes to complexion of baseball over a long period of time with one swing," Cohen said. "I know I'm probably over-dramatizing it, but maybe not."

True to form, Strieby took the hit in stride. He did the same thing this past weekend when his two home runs on Saturday ? one that cleared a 30-foot wall and landed on the roof of a building - and four runs batted in on Sunday helped the Cats take a road series with Vanderbilt. There is no pomp and circumstance with Strieby's game, just unfailing production and clutch hitting.

"You're talking about a guy that we were absolutely counting on to fill a big hole in our lineup," senior Michael Bertram said. "We needed that power guy.

"You wouldn't know (he's a star). He's a very humble guy. He's not cocky at all. He takes the same approach every day. Obviously he's doing something right. He's got the personality that doesn't place too much pressure on himself."

There was plenty of pressure when Strieby arrived in Lexington via Edmonds (Wash.) Community College. Strieby was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 29th round of the Major League Baseball draft after his first season at Edmonds, but didn't sign and spent another year tearing up the wooden bat league. Despite being in the heart of Pac-10 country, UK assistant coach Gary Henderson used his contacts in the Northwest to find Strieby and then dispatched Cohen to watch the kid rake. It took just one double header for Cohen to know he was watching a potential star in the making.

"He's a young man that slipped through the cracks a little," Cohen said. "The second I went to watch him play I said, 'OK Gary, who's the next guy?' Gary asked me what I meant and I told him, 'This guy is never going to show up. He's a top-five round talent. He's too good.'

"I knew exactly what we had. That's why it's so hard to believe we got him on campus, but the day he showed up was a great day for Kentucky baseball. Thank goodness for us it just didn't work out and we got one of the premier first basemen in all of college baseball."

In his typically understated fashion, Strieby admits he figured he'd be playing professional somewhere this spring, taking long bus rides to antiquated minor league parks in small towns across America. As fate would have it, the junior is the anchor of a UK lineup that ranks near the top of the SEC in almost every offensive category.

"I expected someone to offer me something and give me quite a decision to make," Strieby said of the draft. "But it ended up I didn't have to make that decision. I was told many times by certain scouts that they would find me, but it just didn't end up happening for whatever reason."

What those scouts passed over, UK gladly scooped up. Touted as the guy the Cats could plug into the middle of the order and get consistent power production from, Strieby hasn't disappointed. He ranks in the top five of the SEC in eight offensive categories and is the current leader in both doubles and runs batted in. Throw in the sheer volume of crucial hits he has come up with and Strieby might rate as the league's most indispensable player.

"Put into words what Strieby's meant? You really can't," close friend Sean Coughlin said. "You expect someone of his stature to do real well but his stats and the personality and the effort he has put into this program is untouchable. It's awesome."

It didn't take long for everyone around the ballpark to figure that out.

"I didn't know it right away," Bertram said. "We had all heard the hype about Strieby but he absolutely rattles (batting) cages. If you want to see a show, come watch him in batting practice."

Given his aw-shucks personality you won't see too much self-promotion from Strieby. That doesn't mean you won't get a bushel of it from those who watch him every single day.

"If we are fortunate enough to get him back next year there is no telling what he can do," Cohen said. "I have told many people this, even though he's had a great year I think he is just starting to scratch the surface of his talent. He can be really special."

When all is said and done, he might just be the guy who helped change UK baseball as well.

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