What do college baseball coaches do in the summer?
Recruit, of course. And try to keep abreast of what their players are doing.
For Kansas University coach Ritch Price, that also includes keeping track of two-thirds of his sons.
Ritchie Price will be a junior shortstop for the Jayhawks next spring. Ryne Price, who helped push Free State High into the Class 6A state championship game in May, will be a KU freshman.
Primarily a catcher during his two seasons with the Firebirds, Ryne is a jack-of-all-trades.
“He’ll catch a little bit,” the KU coach said, “but he’ll also play second base and third base.”
Ryne Price definitely won’t be sitting on the bench.
“His bat is going to play,” Ritch Price said. “He’s hit something like 25 home runs this summer.”
Ryne and Robbie, Price’s youngest son, have been suiting up this summer for the Firestone Rangers in San Luis Obispo, Calif.
Last year, the two helped the Rangers capture the U.S. Amateur Baseball Federation World Series. This year’s USABF tourney will begin tonight in San Diego and continue through Aug. 14.
Robbie, another key player in the Firebirds’ trip to the state finals, will be a junior at FSHS this fall. Like Ritchie, Robbie plays mostly at shortstop.
While two of the coach’s sons have been in San Luis Obispo, where Price coached at Cal Poly before taking the KU job prior to the 2003 season, Ritchie has been in Alaska, playing semi-pro ball for the Anchorage Glacier Pilots. He’s currently on the roster of another Anchorage team that reached the NBC World Series now under way in Wichita.
While in Anchorage, Ritchie and KU teammate Matt Baty formed the Glacier Pilots’ keystone combination. Baty earned first-team All-Big 12 Conference recognition in the spring while playing center field, but he switched to second — the position he played as a KU freshman — because the Alaska team needed him there.
“I still may use him at second base,” Price said, “but I think he’s better in center.”
Baty, who has joined the Wichita Braves for the NBC Tournament, hit .306 in Alaska and led his club with 17 stolen bases.
A couple of other Jayhawks have had breakthrough summers.
A.J. Van Slyke, a part-time outfielder last season, is tearing up the Central Illinois League. At last report, the left-handed hitter was batting .412 for the Bluff City Bombers. Van Slyke’s father, Andy, played 14 seasons in the major leagues.
“He’s made more progress in one year,” Price said of junior-to-be Van Slyke, “than any player I’ve had.”
Another outfielder on a sizz is Andy Scholl. Also a left-handed hitter, Scholl leads the Northwoods League in hits and in doubles while playing for the Duluth Huskies. At last report, the KU senior-to-be was batting .306 in the wood-bat league.
Adjusting to wood bats takes awhile, and Sean Richardson is an example. A junior-college transfer from California who won the KU catching job last spring, Richardson has been playing for Orleans in the prestigious Cape Cod League. Richardson hit .332 with 12 home runs and a team-high 69 RBIs and earned second-team All-Big 12, but his batting average is only .151 on the East Coast.
Price says he isn’t concerned.
“That’s the toughest wood-bat league in the country,” the KU coach said.
Among the other positives for Price this summer have been a contract extension and the late acquisition of a pitcher from tradition-rich Stanford. Although no announcement has been made, Price reported his pact had been extended through the 2008 season.
Price also said Kodiak Quick, a 6-foot-1 right-hander from Belton, Mo., would transfer after spending two seasons at Stanford. As a sophomore last spring, Quick compiled a 1-0 record and a 3.62 earned-run average for the Cardinal. Quick figures to help a pitching staff that ranked ninth in the Big 12 in ERA last season.
Price has also confirmed that enough private funds had been raised to construct an indoor workout facility in the right-field corner at Hoglund Ballpark. The projected cost is $360,000. The next project, still not completely funded, will be a clubhouse down the left-field line. Estimated cost: $705,000.
“They’re crucial to the future success of our program,” Price said.
