Former Wichita State baseball star ‘honored’ by Team USA inclusion for tournament
Former Wichita State baseball star Luke Ritter was recently hand-picked by USA Baseball to represent the country at the WBSC Premier12 tournament, which will feature the top 12 baseball nations in the world.
Ritter was one of 13 position players included on the 28-man roster, which features prospects who are not currently on Major League Baseball 40-man rosters. The team will head to Mexico in early November and compete in Guadalajara and Tepic from Nov. 9-14, while the top two nations from the six-team group advance to the final round of competition held in Tokyo, Japan from Nov. 21-24.
“It is an honor for me personally to be able to represent my country,” Ritter told The Eagle. “The fact that I get to do it while playing baseball, which I also love, is just awesome. When I got the call and they told me I made the team, it was just pure joy about the opportunity.”
Since graduating from WSU in 2019 and being drafted in the seventh round by the New York Mets, Ritter has risen through the organizational ranks. Many Mets fans are clamoring to see him at the big-league level after the second baseman hit 27 home runs during the 2023 season, then followed it up with 26 home runs and a career-high 93 RBIs at the Triple-A level in Syracuse this past season.
After watching the Mets reach the National League Championship Series earlier this season, the 27-year-old hopes to help the team get over the hump in 2025.
“I’ve definitely learned a lot and grown as a player and the Mets have been great with their development of me,” Ritter said. “I feel like I’m closer than I’ve ever been to the majors. I’ve put together a couple of good seasons and I feel like I’m living my dream right now getting to play baseball for a living. I’m going to keep working toward my dream to be a major-league player. No matter what day it is of the year, whether it’s the offseason or playing for Team USA or the Syracuse Mets, I’m going to be working my hardest to become the best baseball player I can be.”
Ritter hopes the Team USA experience can be a springboard for him. When the national team scouts reached out to him in September, Ritter did his due diligence and called former WSU teammate Alec Bohm, who played for Team USA in 2019, to ask about the experience.
Bohm’s message was simple: “When they call, you go play for them.”
“He really spoke highly about the experience and all of the relationships and memories he made,” Ritter said. “It’s going to be nice to be playing in meaningful games where the whole purpose of playing is to win. And it’s going to mean more playing for your country. I’m excited about the travel and the competition and just the whole experience of it. I’ve never played out of the country before and it’s going to be great to be around so many good players who I can learn from and pick their brains to make me better.”
Ritter, who played for the Shockers from 2016-19, was a two-time all-conference player for Wichita State as a utility player. In his junior season, he hit .341 with six home runs and 31 RBIs, then improved his draft stock by returning to WSU and finishing with a .333 batting average, nine home runs, 40 RBIs and 12 stolen bases as a senior.
This story was originally published October 23, 2024 at 5:03 AM.
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