The Appalachian League announced Monday that Pulaski catcher Brayden Ricketts and Burlington starting pitcher Ryan Hench were the Players of the Week for June 23-29.
Ricketts played in five of the River Turtles’ six games last week and had a hit in all five. For the week, he hit for a .368 average and three home runs. Two of them came in the series finale against Burlington on Friday.
The catcher led the league in slugging for the week at a .947 mark. He also had a 3-for-5 night on June 25 against Bluefield, smashing a homer and a double.
A Canada native, Ricketts is now hitting .371 on the season with a 1.085 OPS. He has nine extra-base hits and 24 RBIs as well, and has caught six of an 18 attempted stolen bases behind the plate.
Ricketts redshirted this past spring at Indiana and is set to return there next season.
Hench made one start on the mound for the Sock Puppets last week and made it count. He got the ball on June 24 in Danville and tossed five innings of no-hit ball. Hench’s only blemish was a hit batter.
The right-hander struck out seven to nearly double his total number for the summer. He only needed 59 pitches to get through the five innings and earn the victory. Hench lowered his season ERA to 2.40 and his WHIP to 0.93.
It’s the second summer in a row for Hench in Burlington. The Hillsborough, North Carolina, native made eight starts last year for the Sock Puppets, going 2-3 with a 5.71 earned run average.
Hench made one appearance this spring at North Carolina against Stanford, where he pitched a perfect frame on March 7 with a strikeout. He is now in the transfer portal.
Chasing .500
A month into the season, Bristol infielder Patrick Gillen leads all qualified hitters in the Appy with a .500 batting average. In the history of the league, no qualified hitter has sniffed a .500 mark for a full season, collegiate or professional.
The highest college mark was set in 2021 by former River Rider shortstop Marcus Brown, who hit .407 for Elizabethton. Wytheville’s Tony Oliva set the overall league mark at .410. Assuming he stays around for the whole summer, Gillen has a legitimate shot at Appy history.
Kingsport’s Kam Durnin (.403), Elizabethton’s Jordan Crosland (.415), and Burlington’s DJ Merriweather (.423) all also sit above the .400 mark.
Durnin and Ricketts are tied for the summer lead in RBI with 24 apiece, with Greeneville slugger Ezra McNaughton following closely with 22 driven in. McNaughton holds the league lead for homers with seven, as well as slugging percentage at .803.
On the pitching side, just four qualified arms have yet to allow an earned run so far. ºÚÁÏÊÓƵ’s Bryson Thacker, Elizabethton’s Donte Lewis, Tri-State’s Tucker DeLisle, and Bristol’s Charlie Atkinson all still hold an ERA of 0.00.
Coal Cats starter Kenyon Collins has been a workhorse in Huntington, leading the Appy in both strikeouts (28) and in innings pitched (20.0). He is the first arm to hit the 20-inning mark.
In terms of streaks, Durnin holds the longest active hitting streak at nine games in a row. Pulaski’s JT Taylor has the longest on-base streak, reaching in all 21 of the River Turtles’ games.
Race to the postseason
With the season at approximately the halfway point, the race to the playoffs is starting to come into view.
In the West, the Flyboys hold strong to first place in the division with a 14-6 mark. Kingsport and Bristol are tied at 11-10 for second place and the last potential postseason spot.
While Elizabethton sits under .500 at 10-12, they are just a game and a half out of the second playoff spot in the West and playing good baseball. They are 7-3 in their last 10 games.
On the other side of the coin, the Doughboys are just 3-7 in their last 10 ballgames and have fallen to last place in the division at 9-12. However, they are just two games out of the postseason.
In the East, Burlington is setting the pace at 13-9, with Bluefield and Pulaski in a tie for second at 11-10. Tri-State (8-12) and Danville (7-14) have time to get back into the picture, but will have to do so sooner rather than later.
