Sat Feb 11 2012
It’s a different kind of summer for J.T. Riddle – no baseball.
Riddle, who graduated from Western Hills last month, gutted out a late-season shoulder injury to help lead the Wolverines to the 41st District championship and the second round of the 11th Region baseball tournament.
His success led to his being named Kentucky’s Mr. Baseball, and he was drafted in the 35th round by the Boston Red Sox in the latest Major League baseball draft.
The accolades keep coming as Riddle has been voted The State Journal Senior Athlete of the Year.
Riddle, who injured his right shoulder on a double play about a week before the end of the regular season, is spending this summer rehabilitating his shoulder and attending classes at the University of Kentucky. He signed with UK last fall as a pitcher-shortstop.
This past season for the Wolverines he hit .514 while striking out just five times with seven home runs and 36 runs scored.
His pitching record was 7-0 with a 1.2 earned run average.
Riddle was named to the all-county baseball team all four years of high school and selected as the all-county player of the year his sophomore and senior years.
But baseball isn’t Riddle’s only sport. He was also a standout in basketball, being named to the all-county team the past two seasons.
His senior season he averaged 23.4 points, 7.1 rebounds and 4.3 assists.
Riddle is the sixth winner of this award. The other winners have been Will Current of Frankfort High in 2005, Charles Keene of Western Hills in 2006, Kaelin Ammons of Franklin County in 2007, E.J. Fields of Frankfort High in 2008, and Keri Metcalf of Frankfort High in 2009.
Here is a question and answer session with this year’s winner.
Has baseball always been your favorite sport?
There were times, I don’t know what age I was, 10 I’m thinking, and I was kind of back and forth between which one I wanted to play, basketball or baseball. By the time middle school started it was baseball for sure.
What is it you like about baseball?
The main thing that stands out from basketball is not only do I like to play it every day, but the practices. Practices are fun to me when I play baseball, in basketball it really wasn’t all that ... it’s not too fun.
Did you ever think about not playing basketball in high school?
I did. It never started until I guess junior year when some college teams started talking to me for baseball and everything. My junior year I decided to go ahead and play. Before basketball this year I talked to coach (Enoch) Welch, talked to him one-on-one and told him I wasn’t sure if I wanted to play or not, so I ended up sticking around practice for a week and made up my mind and decided to play.
Are you glad you did?
I am glad I did. It was a fun senior year for me, and I don’t know what I would have done without playing.
Did you ever give serious thought to not going to UK after being drafted?
After being drafted there was some thought about not going, but the Red Sox had come back and said that where my shoulder was injured they couldn’t offer what I was asking and so that really put that down the drain, and I just decided to go on to UK.
When did you injure your shoulder?
It happened, I want to say about a week, a week and a half before district tournament in the regular season. I think it was against Shelby County. It happened on a double play. It popped out of place. When it popped back in there was some inflammation, and ended up being a cyst on top of my shoulder.
I kind of kept it to myself. I never got it checked out because I wanted to finish out the season. If I’d gone to the doctor and they said I had to sit out I really wouldn’t have liked that with district tournament around corner. I decided to go through it and check it after the season.
What are you doing for your shoulder?
I’m up at UK doing rehab five days a week, doing rehab and going to summer classes.
As of right now it’s all good. The doctor said do six weeks of rehab and then he’ll be back to check up on me, and depending on what he says we’ll go from there and hopefully I’ll be good to go for fall season.
What was the bigger honor for you, being drafted by the Red Sox or being named Mr. Baseball?
It was definitely being Mr. Baseball because being drafted there were other Kentucky players that were very good and I know quite a few of them that were drafted, but Mr. Baseball named me as the standout baseball player for the whole state, voted me No. 1 over some other very good players in the state.
I had no idea I would get it. Being here in Frankfort, Western Hills, you’ve got all the Lexington schools, all the Louisville schools that had the same caliber of players. I knew my stats were good enough, but I had no idea I’d be there in those shoes getting that award.
Is there one memory from your high school athletic career that stands out over any others?
It would definitely be this year during baseball season, sweeping County and winning district championship. Seems like those are really the first district championships I’ve been part of through basketball and baseball. Basketball I was part of one my freshman year, but really I was kind of there. Definitely this one being my senior year and not having beaten County in anything. It was pretty awesome.
Do you do any trash talking?
I don’t. I’m very quiet.
Do you just ignore people when they trash talk you?
Most the time I just blow it off and say I’ll get you back sooner or later.
Which do you like better, pitching or playing shortstop?
Definitely shortstop. I’d rather be an everyday player than once every five days. I’ve always liked swinging the bat, and pitching you’re usually not swinging the bat.
Do you still get nervous when you play?
There are times. It’s more adrenaline from where I’ve been playing so long, but there’s always that nervous feeling at the start of something, like the district championship. I had adrenaline but I was nervous until after the first inning when I got my run support. That’s a big help on the mound pitching a big game.
What do you think you’ll miss most about Western Hills?
I’ll miss a little bit of everything. Definitely all the friends that I have over the years and stay close with. I have close friends going somewhere else to play. Most of them are going to play football, and they’re going to Georgetown, Pikeville, Dylan (Curry) is going to Louisville. And I’m also going to miss the atmosphere of high school sports. It’s just great, basketball and baseball. I’ll definitely be back to watch and support.
What does J.T. stand for?
Joshua Travis. It (J.T.) started back I want to say in the fourth grade. I’d gone by it in sports a little bit, but one of the kids in class said call him J.T., and since then I’ve been going by J.T. in almost everything I do.
How long would like to play baseball?
I’d love to play until I can’t anymore, when there comes the day I’m getting hurt every day I try to go out and swing or something. I’m guessing in my 40s. Of course I’d like for that to not be here, I’d like that to be in the professional level somewhere.
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