The most notable aspect of Elmwood Park’s home baseball game against Guerin on April 11 wasn’t necessarily that the Tigers won 3-2. It might have been that Tigers shortstop David Ramos actually committed an error.
“He has single-handedly kept us in some ballgames this year with his fielding,” Tigers coach Zander DiGrino said. “Now we know he’s human after all.”
Ramos is a junior in his first varsity season at Elmwood Park after transferring from St. Patrick. He showed during the preseason that he had quick hands and a good arm, but it was his footwork as an infielder that shined brightest.
“My uncle played at Gordon Tech, and during summers when I was small, he would work with me and he always said that footwork comes first, and then hands,” Ramos said. “I was 7 or 8, and it only took me a year or two of repetition before it became second nature.”
Ramos played second base last year before moving to shortstop this season.
“It’s setting yourself up to go to the base you want, and he’s really good at pausing his steps and stuttering his steps so he can field it on that glove hand,” DiGrino said. “It’s hard to make that natural, but that’s what he has done. He put the work in to make it second nature.”
Ramos’ approach to entering a new varsity program showed maturity, DiGrino recalled, as the player emailed his new coach before the school year to introduce himself and explain his intentions.
“It was very articulate and not something you see every day as a coach,” DiGrino said. “He wrote that he was looking forward to showing me his work ethic and his love for the game. He wasn’t bragging on himself; he was just letting me know what he was about.”
Ramos simply wanted DiGrino to know that he was ready to buy in to the program.
“Coming here I only knew a few teammates, and they told me coach (DiGrino) would play whoever works the hardest,” Ramos said. “And no matter what, I always liked to work hard, ever since T-ball.”
Ramos began the season batting seventh. The Tigers lost a few players to injuries that required DiGrino to change his batting order, at the same time that Ramos was showing what he could do with a bat. Ramos had a game-winning hit with the bases loaded in the seventh inning of a 3-2 win over Maine East on March 29. At roughly 5-foot-8, he is not a prototypical cleanup hitter, but that’s where he’s now batting.
“I just took it in stride,” Ramos said of starting the season batting seventh. “I wasn’t insulted, I was motivated.”
The Tigers improved to 5-2 with a second straight victory over Guerin on April 12, and Ramos sees good things ahead for the team.
“Everyone comes to practice and works hard, and as a team I think we’re coming together as a family and a brotherhood,” Ramos said. “This team has potential.”
DiGrino is just happy to have Ramos in the fold.
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“The kid is our hardest worker with the highest baseball IQ,” DiGrino said. “We talk about buying into the process and not letting the game overwhelm you, and he’s outstanding at that. … He wants to make every play, and he attacks every ball.”
Gary Larsen is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
Twitter @Pioneer_Press