Former Haybaler Nick Ramos is back in action with Monterey
Peninsula College after suffering an ankle injury earlier in the
year that forced him to miss two weeks of the season.
Former Haybaler Nick Ramos is back in action with Monterey Peninsula College after suffering an ankle injury earlier in the year that forced him to miss two weeks of the season.
Ramos was out most of his senior year last year at San Benito High after dislocating his ankle in the game against Gilroy while trying to get back to base.
Then just two games into this season, the freshman twisted his ankle again – although not as bad.
“I thought I was going to be out for the rest of the year again,” Ramos said. “I was really mad. It is still a little tender right now, but I keep it iced and taped up.”
An ankle injury is especially tough for a shortstop.
“It’s all about about agility there,” Ramos said. “You have to be able to turn and be quick on your feet.”
But Ramos hasn’t let the pain and the rehabilitation stop him from pursuing his goal of playing professional baseball.
He is currently batting about .400 and leading the team in stolen bases with seven, even though he has missed about half the games. Batting at the top of the lineup, Ramos is able to create a lot of scoring chances with his speed.
Ramos and the Lobos will be playing at Gavilan today. It will be the first time he has gone against his former Haybaler coach Neal Andrade in a regular season game after playing for him for three years.
“It will bring back a lot of memories seeing him on a baseball field again,” Ramos said.
MPC coach Daniel Phillips was a big part of the reason Ramos decided to play for the Lobos. Phillips was an instructor for the ABA program that Ramos started playing in when he was 14.
“He used to do drills with me a lot when I was younger,” Ramos said. “We used to scrimmage Monterey a lot.”
Since Ramos has returned to the lineup, he has helped the team to move into second place in the conference after the team’s rocky start at the start of the season.
“He is a leader on the team,” Phillips said. “He is an intense competitor. He is a coach’s dream – honest, hard working, loyal, committed. He is a wonderful person on and off the field. He was one of my top recruits.”
But sometimes the 45-minute drive becomes really tough to make, Ramos said.
“You got to do it right,” Ramos said. “You got to have a lot of patience. The drive gets really old especially after a long day of practice.”
Ramos hopes to have the chance to prove himself with a professional team. But he is leaving open the option of going into sports medicine.
“That is my first priority to get signed,” Ramos said. “I am working hard as it is and am always at the gym. That’s what it takes – getting bigger and stronger and perfecting the skills of the game.”
Another former Baler at MPC is Chris Fisher. Fisher, a left handed pitcher who played for San Francisco State, is still recovering from a shoulder injury.
“He still hasn’t seen the field this year,” Phillips said. “We are hoping to have him back by the end of the season, but he still might be a year away.”
