Coach Matt Rucki led the Loudonville baseball team to a Mid-Buckeye Conference title, and for the second straight year he earned the Coach of the Year Award.

“The award is a byproduct of winning our league this season,” Rucki said. “It shows that the efforts from everyone in our program is paying off. We have a lot of work left to do but we feel we are headed in the right direction.”

Rucki said that while it is an honor to be named coach of the year, and appreciates the recognition, he said it is really a team award. He said he was incredibly fortunate to have such a knowledgeable and dedicated staff, who is great to work with.

“This is their award as much as mine,” Rucki said.

While the team was 11-13 overall, they excelled in conference play going 7-1 to edge out Lucas. They also made it to the district tournament and won some big games along the way. 

Despite the accolade, he knows there were some holes in the game and that improvements need to be made. He said they didn’t have enough consistency offensively, which cost them wins and a chance to move futher in the tournament.

“We’ll be moving to a new league next season that is really competitive top to bottom,” said Rucki. “We need to invest more time in the offseason and we didn’t have enough commitment to field a summer team. The pressure is now on to try to catch up to other teams throughout the fall and winter in order to be competitive next season.”