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09/27/2018 12:00 AMKillingworth resident Ryan Kehlenbach has helped convert his family from a soccer family into a baseball family—at least while he’s playing. Ryan’s father grew up playing soccer and his younger sister plays the sport, but the members of the Kehlenbach family are also big fans of the Boston Red Sox.
Even though Ryan gave soccer and football a try when he was younger, baseball was the sport that he was most interested in. Ryan watched Red Sox games with his family and then started playing baseball in kindergarten. Now, he plays for the baseball team at Haddam-Killingworth High School and also competes for the Shoreline Cougars’ 18-U squad during the summer.
“My family wasn’t a baseball family, but they’ve been to 99.9 percent of my games, drove me to every practice and game, and bought whatever baseball equipment I needed,” Ryan says. “If I thought I did bad, they were there to tell me to keep going and keep pushing. They’ve always been there for me when it comes to baseball and everything else.”
Ryan’s family takes him to plenty of practices and games, because he practically plays baseball year-round. After starting with tee ball, Ryan participated in Killingworth’s instructional coach-pitch league in 1st grade, before playing six-inning games at the minors’ and kid-pitch levels in 2nd and 3rd grade.
By 4th grade, Ryan had advanced to the majors’ level and already had a year of travel baseball under his belt. He competed for his first travel team in 3rd grade with Between the Lines in Clinton and has played travel ever since.
“What I like most is it’s always been fun for me and, if I’m ever down, I always have baseball to look forward to,” Ryan says. “I play pretty much all year. We have a two-month break in November and December, and then we start with hitting in January.”
In addition to his town teams and travel teams, Ryan played baseball at Haddam-Killingworth Middle School. He’s now a sophomore at H-K High School and is looking forward to his second season with the program.
Ryan played for the Shoreline Cougars AAU team during the summer of 2017. As a result of the experience he gained, Ryan and two of his friends were invited to participate in the pitcher-catcher preseason workouts at Haddam-Killingworth this spring. The trio tried out and went on to make the varsity club.
“It was a very cool experience to be able to do that a young age,” says Ryan. “I also played JV, which was a lot of fun.”
While Ryan made varsity and saw a little time behind the plate, his main role was playing second base for Haddam-Killingworth’s JV team. Ryan always played the outfield while growing up, but when he was 12, his AAU coach moved him to the infield.
“He liked me there, and it stuck, so when I played JV, I played second,” Ryan says. “Last fall, my friend who was catching for the [Shoreline Cougars] was playing hockey, and we needed a catcher, so I stepped up and tried it, but I prefer second.”
Shoreline Cougars’ Head Coach Dennis Annicelli has seen Ryan’s willingness to do whatever his team needs firsthand. Annicelli not only appreciates the skills that Ryan brings to the field, but his attitude, as well.
“Ryan brings a positive outlook and attitude to field every day. He is truly a ‘Yes, coach’ player and will do anything that is asked of him,” Annicelli says. “One thing I love about Ryan is he loves to joke around and have a good time, but when the game starts and it’s time to compete, he’s one of the toughest players around.”
Having a good time is one of Ryan’s favorite parts of playing baseball. Since he’s played for so long, Ryan has made many close friends through the sport. Ryan says there’s a special bond between the people on his teams.
“Even if we’re not the closest off the field, on the field, it’s like a brotherhood. We’re always there to pick each other up, no matter what,” he says. “I know what my teammates are best at, and they know what I’m good at and what I struggle with. If I’m doing something wrong, they know what to do to help me improve on that, and I know a lot about how they play.”
With such a long history as a baseball player, Ryan feels thankful for both the support of his family and the many coaches he’s had over the years. Ryan’s first AAU coach, Aron Brewer, has proved a huge influence, as has his private batting and pitching coach, Jeff Riggs.
“Coach Brewer was a very tough coach, but he was one of best coaches I ever had, and he knew the game inside out. When we were 9, he turned us from Little League players into good baseball players,” says Ryan. “Since then, I’ve seen a lot of people from his team go on and play very well wherever they went...One particular coach I saw privately, Jeff Riggs, helped me a lot with hitting and pitching, and I owe a lot to him.”
Ryan says that one of his favorite experiences on the baseball field came when his 12-U AAU team won its championship. The next year, Ryan faced personal challenges when he had to have a kidney removed and was sidelined for a month following the surgery.
“I look back on the moment a lot when I play. It taught me that you can come back from anything, whether it’s something bad like a surgery or a bad play or bad game,” Ryan says. “The only thing that matters is next play, the next pitch, or the next game.”
Ryan is in the midst of his season with the Shoreline Cougars’ fall ball team, which is currently in first place in its league. Ryan has high hopes for what Haddam-Killingworth can achieve next spring and wants to secure the starting job as the varsity squad’s second baseman.
“I’d really like to win [H-K Head Coach Mark Brookes] his first state championship in one of my remaining three years, and it would mean a lot to be part of his first championship team in his 40-plus years coaching,” says Ryan. “I just fell in love with this sport and don’t have any plans to stop.”