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NAPPANEE — NorthWood baseball player Ryder Ransberger has received plenty of media attention in recent days.
His play on the field as a catcher and being the lone senior on the Panthers baseball team has made Ransberger a popular athlete.
“I was interviewed quite a bit (on Monday),” said Ransberger. “I don’t mind it at all. I feel pretty comfortable talking to people.”
Media day followed for the Panthers baseball team on Monday after NorthWood beat Highland, 8-1, in a Class 3A regional championship game on Saturday in Nappanee. It was the second straight regional title for the Panthers.
“It’s definitely special being the lone senior on the team and going out with a bang,” said Ransberger about the regional championship.
“Last year, we returned our whole starting lineup from the previous year and it was cool to win the regional title. We returned only three starters from last year’s team. We had guys off of playing winter sports that had to get ready and adapt to playing baseball. For them to be able to fill in roles has been cool to see.”
Ransberger and the “new look” Panthers (18-12-1) next face Norwell (19-8) in a semistate semifinal game this Saturday at 11:30 a.m. (EST) at LaPorte High School. Top-ranked and defending state champion Andrean (28-3) will play No. 5 DeKalb (21-4) will play in the second semifinal contest. The semifinal winners play for the semistate championship at 8 p.m. (EST).
The Panthers and Knights will be playing in a semistate semifinal game for the second straight year. Last June, NorthWood prevailed 3-1.
“I just remember them being super competitive,” Ransberger said about Norwell. “It was a super, back and forth game the whole time. We played really clean baseball on defense, got good pitching and had good at-bats in the box.
“We need to play seven innings of clean baseball again this Saturday.”
At the regional last Saturday, Ransberger provided on the field what he has provided all year, which is offense, defense and leadership, for the Panthers.
Ransberger collected two hits, including a double, and scored two runs for NorthWood.
While catching, Ransberger took a throw home from right fielder Brady Weaver and tagged out a Highland baserunner at home in the bottom of the fourth inning. That play kept NorthWood’s lead at 2-1.
Ransberger also felt that one of his at-bats helped determine the game’s outcome.
“I started off the second inning with a lead-off double and that got us some momentum,” Ransberger said. We scored our first run in the second inning and that carried into the rest of the game,” Ransberger said.
“We weren’t too up or down during the game and we gave ourselves a good chance to win the game.”
NorthWood has been able to count on Ransberger to get his share of hits in games throughout the season. He enters the semistate with a .423 batting average, with 13 doubles, one triple, one homer and 30 RBIs.
A tremendous improvement from last year when Ransberger batted .211, with two doubles and 11 RBIs.
“He’s improvement dramatically and we aren’t surprised by that,” said NorthWood coach Zach Benko about Ransberger’s bat.
“Ryder is very coachable. We asked him to make some adjustments to his swing, timing and posture during the winter. He has worked hard to turn those adjustments into habits.
“Over the first part of the season he had some at-bats where the “old” Ryder would show up and we would see some of the flashes of some of the problems we were trying to escape.
“But Ryder stayed the course and continued to work and the statistics speak for themselves.”
You can hear excitement in Ransberger’s voice when he talks about his growth this year offensively.
“I’m super grateful about the way I’ve played this year,” he said. “In my first three years my seasons weren’t as good as I wanted them to be.
“I made a small adjustment at the plate. I closed off my stance a little bit and that kept me from flying off in the box. That small adjustment has really me this year.”
Ransberger, who has been a four-year varsity starter, didn’t begin his high school baseball career as a catcher.
“As a freshman and halfway through my sophomore year I was a third baseman,” he said. “From the second half of my sophomore year to now I’ve caught.
“Our other catcher my sophomore year needed to fill a row in the outfield and I was brought in to catch. I’ve stuck there ever since. I was the only catcher on the roster last year. It has been really fun to catch.”
It has been fun for Benko to watch Ransberger behind the plate and see him perform the duties of leading a pitching staff and make tough stops with his glove.
“He embodies the position,” Benko said. “He doesn’t try to be flashy. He just tries to be good, tough and consistent, which he has been for us.”
Being the lone senior on the team, Ransberger takes seriously the role of being a team leader. He’s performed that role in a quiet manner, while sharing the team captain honor with teammate Kam Hershberger.
“I lead by example more than vocally,” he said. “The guys know what they need to do on the field. They’ve done a great job and it has been a great season.”
Ransberger, who finished with a 4.0 grade-point average, plans on playing baseball next year at Spring Arbor University and studying accounting.
Benko greatly appreciates what Ransberger brought to the baseball program this season.
“The young guys know they can look to him as an example of how things should be done,” Benko said.
“Ryder has done a good job of meeting the expectations that are held for a leader in the NorthWood baseball program.
“The team wouldn’t be what it is without Ryder, and Ryder wouldn’t be who he is without the team.
“They are all part of a complete unit, and right now, we are clicking.”
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His play on the field as a catcher and being the lone senior on the Panthers baseball team has made Ransberger a popular athlete.
“I was interviewed quite a bit (on Monday),” said Ransberger. “I don’t mind it at all. I feel pretty comfortable talking to people.”
Media day followed for the Panthers baseball team on Monday after NorthWood beat Highland, 8-1, in a Class 3A regional championship game on Saturday in Nappanee. It was the second straight regional title for the Panthers.
“It’s definitely special being the lone senior on the team and going out with a bang,” said Ransberger about the regional championship.
“Last year, we returned our whole starting lineup from the previous year and it was cool to win the regional title. We returned only three starters from last year’s team. We had guys off of playing winter sports that had to get ready and adapt to playing baseball. For them to be able to fill in roles has been cool to see.”
Ransberger and the “new look” Panthers (18-12-1) next face Norwell (19-8) in a semistate semifinal game this Saturday at 11:30 a.m. (EST) at LaPorte High School. Top-ranked and defending state champion Andrean (28-3) will play No. 5 DeKalb (21-4) will play in the second semifinal contest. The semifinal winners play for the semistate championship at 8 p.m. (EST).
The Panthers and Knights will be playing in a semistate semifinal game for the second straight year. Last June, NorthWood prevailed 3-1.
“I just remember them being super competitive,” Ransberger said about Norwell. “It was a super, back and forth game the whole time. We played really clean baseball on defense, got good pitching and had good at-bats in the box.
“We need to play seven innings of clean baseball again this Saturday.”
At the regional last Saturday, Ransberger provided on the field what he has provided all year, which is offense, defense and leadership, for the Panthers.
Ransberger collected two hits, including a double, and scored two runs for NorthWood.
While catching, Ransberger took a throw home from right fielder Brady Weaver and tagged out a Highland baserunner at home in the bottom of the fourth inning. That play kept NorthWood’s lead at 2-1.
Ransberger also felt that one of his at-bats helped determine the game’s outcome.
“I started off the second inning with a lead-off double and that got us some momentum,” Ransberger said. We scored our first run in the second inning and that carried into the rest of the game,” Ransberger said.
“We weren’t too up or down during the game and we gave ourselves a good chance to win the game.”
NorthWood has been able to count on Ransberger to get his share of hits in games throughout the season. He enters the semistate with a .423 batting average, with 13 doubles, one triple, one homer and 30 RBIs.
A tremendous improvement from last year when Ransberger batted .211, with two doubles and 11 RBIs.
“He’s improvement dramatically and we aren’t surprised by that,” said NorthWood coach Zach Benko about Ransberger’s bat.
“Ryder is very coachable. We asked him to make some adjustments to his swing, timing and posture during the winter. He has worked hard to turn those adjustments into habits.
“Over the first part of the season he had some at-bats where the “old” Ryder would show up and we would see some of the flashes of some of the problems we were trying to escape.
“But Ryder stayed the course and continued to work and the statistics speak for themselves.”
You can hear excitement in Ransberger’s voice when he talks about his growth this year offensively.
“I’m super grateful about the way I’ve played this year,” he said. “In my first three years my seasons weren’t as good as I wanted them to be.
“I made a small adjustment at the plate. I closed off my stance a little bit and that kept me from flying off in the box. That small adjustment has really me this year.”
Ransberger, who has been a four-year varsity starter, didn’t begin his high school baseball career as a catcher.
“As a freshman and halfway through my sophomore year I was a third baseman,” he said. “From the second half of my sophomore year to now I’ve caught.
“Our other catcher my sophomore year needed to fill a row in the outfield and I was brought in to catch. I’ve stuck there ever since. I was the only catcher on the roster last year. It has been really fun to catch.”
It has been fun for Benko to watch Ransberger behind the plate and see him perform the duties of leading a pitching staff and make tough stops with his glove.
“He embodies the position,” Benko said. “He doesn’t try to be flashy. He just tries to be good, tough and consistent, which he has been for us.”
Being the lone senior on the team, Ransberger takes seriously the role of being a team leader. He’s performed that role in a quiet manner, while sharing the team captain honor with teammate Kam Hershberger.
“I lead by example more than vocally,” he said. “The guys know what they need to do on the field. They’ve done a great job and it has been a great season.”
Ransberger, who finished with a 4.0 grade-point average, plans on playing baseball next year at Spring Arbor University and studying accounting.
Benko greatly appreciates what Ransberger brought to the baseball program this season.
“The young guys know they can look to him as an example of how things should be done,” Benko said.
“Ryder has done a good job of meeting the expectations that are held for a leader in the NorthWood baseball program.
“The team wouldn’t be what it is without Ryder, and Ryder wouldn’t be who he is without the team.
“They are all part of a complete unit, and right now, we are clicking.”
Continue reading...
