RIDGEFIELD — Steve Ramirez was not a highly touted recruit out of Etiwanda High School in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.
He had a few offers from NCAA Division II schools, a look or two at D-I and a couple options at the junior college circuit. He chose to stay close to home, attending Riverside City College just 22 miles away and try to prove himself — not only to college coaches and Major League scouts, but to himself.
He felt lost at the plate entering college baseball, and knew growth was needed on the diamond — and as a person, he says — if he wanted his dream of playing baseball to stay alive.
The decision appears to be a great one, thus far. Ramirez hit .330 in his freshman season with the Tigers before joining the Ridgefield Raptors this summer.
He’s served as the Raptors’ fulltime catcher and is hitting .318, a team-high, with three home runs and 15 RBI in 23 games. He was also selected for the West Coast League All-Star Game, scheduled for Tuesday in Bend.
Teammates Michael Hicks (Boise State) and Carter Benbrook (UC Santa Barbara) will join Ramirez in representing the Raptors on the South Division All-Star team.
“Coming out here, it was never really a goal to be an all-star,” Ramirez said. “But to be chosen as one out of all the players in this league, it really is a blessing.”
In a league littered with D-I talent, Ramirez is one of two junior college players selected to the all-star game. Kelowna’s Cole Cummings (Pima Community College) will play for the North squad. In a game designed to attract area scouts, it offers Ramirez another chance to prove himself.
“It was a lot of work, a lot of training before coming out here, and I feel like all the work I’ve put in is really showing on the field,” Ramirez said. “It’s really proving to myself that I am someone who can come out and compete with these D-I guys.”
Not only does he play against them, he also has to catch them and call pitches from behind the plate. Raptors coaches allow Ramirez to call his own game, no easy task in a summer-league season with so many players coming and going. Twenty-two players have pitched for the Raptors this season.
“Everybody is different; everybody’s ball moves differently,” Ramirez explained. “I feel like it’s a learning point for me with the pitching staff, learning what they want to do and how a ball moves and how they want to use it. It’s also helping me learn the game more.”
And in the instances when a new reliever comes in for the first time, Ramirez has just the warmup pitches to figure things out before a talented hitter steps up to the plate. So he relies on his knowledge of the game and “goes with the flow.”
“I’m just trying to take this one day at a time,” he said. “Seeing how far I can push myself, how far I can stretch out this baseball career.”
Steve Ramirez Bio
Position: Catcher
Hometown: Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.
College: Riverside City College
Height: 5-11; Weight: 180
2019 summer stats: .318, 3 HR, 15 RBI, 2 SB
Key moment: Game-winning double in 8-7 win over Port Angeles on June 16
