The local baseball commitments, like a good poker hand, seem to be coming in pairs. And the good news is they are being dealt earlier too.
Two outstanding athletes, Thomas Dale’s Evan Lester and L.C. Bird’s Trey Ramsey, announced their respective commitments to the colleges where each one plans to play.
Evan Lester
Lester, a 5-foot-10, 145-pounder, declared he will continue his playing career at Hampden-Sydney College after his senior season in 2017.
When asked why he made his decision as early as before his final year, Lester said, “I had taken a tour about a year back and absolutely loved the school. Even if baseball wasn’t in the mix, Hampden-Sydney is the school for me.”
This past season, Lester appeared in seven games as a pitcher, registering 32 strikeouts, 24 walks, a 4.67 ERA and had a .238 on base average on the mound. On offense, Lester had a .281 batting average and 3 RBI.
Thomas Dale veteran coach Chris Marshall, had nothing but high praises for the youngster. “Evan is an excellent defensive outfielder,” Marshall said. “He can really cover some ground in center.”
Lester has high hopes for this upcoming season, and he believes that with the help of returning players, the up-and-coming talent the Knights have will be able to cure their struggling offense.
Ramsey is a two-sport athlete for the Skyhawks who will be attending Virginia State University (VSU) to continue his education and baseball career. “I chose VSU for making me and my family feel like a family,” Ramsey said. “Their campus looks great and the faculty are great. I think I’ll be a great fit to their program this year.”
Trey Ramsey
As a catcher, he received first-team All-Conference honors for his junior and senior year. In addition to these honors, his stats had a heavy influence on why the coaching staff at Virginia State recruited him. With an exceptional batting average of .420, he finished his senior year with 21 RBIs, a mere 10 strikeouts, and a slick .989 fielding percentage.
“Trey is a fierce competitor and has a winner’s mentality,” said L. C. Bird coach Kris Wheeler. “He should compete right away at VSU.”
Ramsey, at 6-0, 240, also excelled in football. A state champion in his sophomore and junior seasons, he displayed the winner’s mentality that his coach praised. Ramsey was honored as second-team All-Conference his junior year, and he added a few more accolades to his resume his senior year, which included first-team All-Conference and All-Metro honors.
Both athletes have high expectations for this coming baseball season, even though Lester’s is at the high-school level and Ramsey’s is at the NCAA Division II level. They both know what it takes to reach their full potential and intend to work hard every day to become exactly who they want to be.
It wouldn’t be a surprise if these two names happened to reappear frequently on the RVAGamebreak.com website next year.
