Just call him Grant’s Ring leader
In a recent game between Grant and Lake Forest, a strong wind was blowing straight out to center field. Along with a setting sun that was directly in the fielders’ eyes, the weather conditions were wreaking havoc.
Several balls were misplayed and fell in for hits for both teams. It seemed to affect everyone but Grant center fielder Jake Ring. The senior had three putouts in three tries. He made all of them look easy.
“There was a ball that was probably a play for the right fielder, but Jake got all the way over into the gap and camped under it,” Grant coach Dave Behm said. “For me, it’s something that I’ve gotten used to and something that I will miss next year. Anything that’s up in the air, you know he’s going to get a great jump on it.”
Being a great fielder is only one of Ring’s attributes. The Missouri recruit distinguished himself in a February workout that was attended by scouts. He ran the 60-yard dash in 6.6 seconds and his arm was clocked at 91 mph from the outfield.
However, being fast and having a great arm doesn’t tell the full story. He is a four-year varsity starter and helped lead his team to a thirdplace finish in the Class 4A state finals last year. That finish surprised many as Grant was not expected to compete at such a high level.
“Last year, nobody expected us to go that far,” Ring said. “People would look at us and say ‘Oh there’s Grant and they’re not very good.’ We have five seniors all going to play college baseball, and our juniors, a lot of them are going to play college baseball. We did a lot of work in the offseason. I feel like we are ready to go.”
Ring finished last year with a .455 average and is hitting over .400 this year, mostly from the leadoff spot. At the plate, he is very patient and fulfills the role of leadoff man by being the perfect table-setter.
“I’ve been really patient this year,” Ring said. “My approach is always center and left-center. I’ve been trying to go opposite field… I like to turn a single into a triple. That’s my goal. It’s either hit a single and steal my way to third or hit a gap and try to get a triple that way.”
Ring is a high-energy person both on and off the field despite his coaches and teammates calling him a “laid-back person.” He is the type of person that must be constantly moving. He starts his day by lifting weights with teammate Tyler Gorski and then after practice will go running or play basketball. He can’t picture himself working behind a desk in his adult life.
“I’ll probably study geology [at Missouri],’’ Ring said. “I like to go places and be outside. I don’t like to sit there and be on a computer. I can’t imagine myself in a cubicle sitting behind a desk.”
Ring’s was taught the game at young age by his father, Mark, who was also a shortstop at Grant. Jake is so polished at this point that he is now just fine-tuning his game.
“It’s fun coaching Jake because you’re working details,” Behm said. “Some outfielders we’re working on getting a read on the ball and which way the wind is blowing and things like that. With Jake, we’re working on high-level things with him like throwing behind runners and other things.”