Athlete of the Week: Ritter’s work ethic is contagious to Rogers baseball

by Erik Nelson

Sports Reporter

Since elementary school, Rogers senior pitcher Riane Ritter has loved baseball. All through his youth baseball career, he played second base. It was his home even up to his freshman year in high school. He started to pitch when he was 15 and played for 15U and 16U teams. That’s when he figured out pitching mechanics and what he could contribute to the Royals varsity team. He has learned to attack hitters and sequence different pitches by working with Rogers pitching coach Isaac Hamilton.

Offensively, Ritter, one of Rogers’ 2024 captains, made his biggest impact this season when he hit a walk-off double in Rogers’ 3-2 win over Maple Grove on Friday, April 5, in Rogers. He threw over five innings of pitches before turning the ball over to teammate Jackson Miller. Ritter, who remained in the game as the designated hitter, whacked the ball into the right center field gap to end the game.

“We’re always in the game,” Ritter said. “We can come back any time. It shows the guys on the team [that] it’s not done until the last out.”

Rogers head coach Brian Harapat said Ritter has learned great leadership skills and is one of the hardest working players on the Royals.

“He’s been blessed to play with some good players that have gone on to play at the next level that have been good mentors for him,” Harapat said. “What I think he’s learned is that if you’re putting in the work, that’s what it takes to get it done to get yourself to that next level. When he was a freshman, he was maybe 140 pounds soaking wet. He’s a self-made man. He got in the weight room and he was in there every day. He continues to take care of his body and build himself. That’s when he made the big jumps and the big gains. He’s a heck of a leader for us.”

Postseason success at Rogers is in Ritter’s DNA. His older sister, Allyson Ritter, played for the Royals when Rogers volleyball made its first state tournament appearance in 2021. Allyson graduated from RHS in 2022 and is now a sophomore at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul. Allyson’s team made the Class 4A state tournament that fall, and so did Riane and the Rogers baseball team in June 2021. Unlike his older sister, however, Riane Ritter, only a freshman three seasons ago, sat on the bench for the Royals during the state tournament, while Allyson was a key contributor throughout the Royals’ state tournament run which culminated in a fourth-place finish.

“She’s been a good resource to talk to,” he said. “Having an older sibling gave me an advantage having to look into the future for stuff that’s going to happen to me that happens to everyone that you wouldn’t know about unless you had an older sibling.”

Allyson Ritter said she influenced Riane Ritter into how leaders behave inside and outside of athletic settings.

“I was a leader for volleyball,” Allyson said. “He’s using some of the strategies that I used which is helping the team now.”

Riane Ritter, whose sister attends St. Thomas and whose father graduated from UST, didn’t have to think hard about what he wants to do next fall. Riane will be attending the University of St. Thomas and hopes to play DI baseball for the Tommies next spring. He plans on majoring in business, finance or marketing.

“I like the [baseball] coaching staff,” he said. “It felt like home even before I got an offer because it’s a school I’m familiar with.”

Allyson Ritter said it will be fun to be on the same campus as her older brother next fall.

“It will help the transition a lot for him,” she said.

Three years ago, the Royals made their most-recent state tournament appearance, but for the last two years, Rogers’ seasons have ended at the hands for the Sartell Sabres in the Section 8-4A championship. This year, the Royals won’t have to deal with the Sabres in the section tournament any longer because Rogers will now play in Section 5-4A along with Maple Grove and Mounds View, which have both appeared at the state tournament in the last three seasons.

Riane Ritter said it would be awesome to play at CHS Field in St. Paul at the Class 4A state tournament if Rogers can win the Section 5-4A tournament.

“I know that mound out there is nice,” he said. “It would be a statement to the kids at our school. A lot of the kids my age haven’t been to a big [baseball] game. It’ll be the first time we get to go.”