It has been an interesting summer for Ryan Ottobre, in more ways than one.
To begin with, the Hopewell Valley Central High rising senior is playing the outfield regularly for the first time in his life. A catcher by trade, he plays for a Lawrence Post 414 legion team that is loaded with catchers; so coach Jason “Ziggy” Zegarski moved Ottobre to right field to keep his bat in the lineup.
His contributions out there and at the plate have helped Lawrence to another winning season and district playoff berth.
“We’re just trying to maximize our lineup the best we can,” Zegarski said. “We always tell them at the beginning of the year ‘You might think you play one position but you may be playing another position at the end of the year for us.’ And it’s happened more often than not.”
Secondly, Ottobre had an opportunity to visit three college campuses in his quest to play baseball after high school. His stops have included Boston College, the University of Rhode Island and Virginia’s Longwood University.
“Baseball is definitely something I want to pursue as long as I can,” he said. “It’s always a great feeling getting to talk with those high level coaches.”
Fortunately for Post 414, it was Ottobre’s desire to visit campuses that made him a legion-only player this summer, which meant he wouldn’t be missing games for travel ball.
“Travel teams are crazy expensive,” he said. “Financially we wouldn’t have been able to do legion, travel, and visit campuses.
“And from what I’ve heard from other coaches and college coaches, if you have an opportunity to get on their campuses and get face-to-face with them it’s better than having a possibility of seeing them at a tournament. So I wanted to get the face-to-face time. The way the legion schedule is built it gives me the possibility to do that. With travel, not so much.”
That being said, Ottobre is not looking at legion as a consolation prize. He played for Lawrence last summer and his brother Tyler was a 414 player a few years ago.
“I’ve seen some very, very good talent in Legion that I didn’t see as often in travel,” Ottobre said. “Obviously there’s a bunch of standouts that are playing travel baseball. But I feel around here the Legion talent is still good.”
It’s good enough on Lawrence to force a more-than-capable catcher into the outfield.
Ottobre has been behind the plate “ever since the game had a catcher in it. Since coach-pitch I guess.”
Ryan emulated Tyler at a young age. Since big brother caught, he volunteered to catch the first chance he got. Oddly enough — it’s odd because few kids feel this way — he was enamored by it and “thought it looked cool” wearing all the cumbersome catcher’s equipment.
The decision paid off, as he found a permanent home behind the dish until this summer. Ottobre started for HVCHS as a sophomore, which came as a surprise.
“It was definitely a little bit of a shock,” he said. “I knew we had a starting catcher. Starting behind the plate was a really good feeling. I always held myself to a pretty high standard, so getting the starting job was nice but I knew I had to continue to fight to keep it.”
In 35 at-bats that season, Ottobre hit .257 with eight RBI. This past spring, he had twice as many at-bats and lifted his average to .314 with 15 RBI and seven extra-base hits.
“I think another year of experience seeing that level of pitching helped me,” he said. “Plus I put work in the entire off-season, knowing that was the part of the game I had to step up the most.”
Then came legion season, where he got off to an extremely slow start before tearing it up. Ottobre was under .100 for a while but hit over .400 through the first three weeks of July.
“At the beginning of the year I hit a little slow patch where I don’t think I was seeing the ball as well and picking up spin as early,” he said. “I kind of changed my approach — not trying to swing for the fences, just get on base, get your base hit, do what you can. I started letting the ball travel deeper. I could see it better and I started hitting better.”
His confidence rose with his batting average, which kept his production on the rise.
“Now I’m out of my head when I’m hitting,” he said in mid-July. “I was in a little bit of a slump, and mentally it’s draining. But when I started hitting well I went up to the plate with a clear mind and confidence, it makes it so much easier.”
Zegarski felt that the gap from Hopewell’s last game on May 27 to Post 414’s first contest on June 8 may have been a factor.
“I just think it’s getting comfortable again and seeing the ball,” the skipper said. “Especially if your team doesn’t have a run in the states. That break sometimes, when you’re not playing baseball, you gotta get back in a rhythm, get your timing back, everything like that.
“Sometimes you need a little more time. He’s come around. He’s a gap hitter, line drives. He’s a big strong kid and if he runs into one it’s gonna go pretty far.”
Ottobre would not use it as an excuse, but making the move to right field may have detracted from his hitting. Despite playing a few games in the outfield in high school and little league, he was hardly experienced.
“It was the first time I played out there in two or three years,” he said. “I definitely worked at it. I didn’t want to go out there with no experience. I took fly balls every chance I could, and just worked on getting my proper reads so I could hold my own out there.”
Zegarski — who also has HVCHS players Luke Hemmer, DJ Steward, Luke Lebson and Tony Noble on his roster — has been impressed with Ottobre’s transition.
“He’s been doing very well out there,” the manager said. “It was a natural decision. He plays football, he’s an athlete. You put an athlete out there and he’ll hold his own. He’s made some diving catches, made some great throws and even the few games we had him behind the plate he’s been playing well.”
Considering the importance of a catcher and all his responsibilities, it might seem an easy adjustment to the outfield. But it’s a lot more than just waiting for a fly ball to come one’s way.
“For me the biggest challenge was when a righty would be in the box and the ball was hit straight over my head,” Ottobre said. “I’d drop back and open up to my arm side and the ball would keep tailing away from me and I’d have to make an adjustment back toward my glove side. Reading the spin of the ball and how hard the ball was hit off the bat was the toughest part for me.”
Maybe even tougher for Ottobre was keeping his head in the game at all times.
“Catching I’m involved in every single pitch; I’m always concentrating on the game,” he said. “Sometimes in the outfield I don’t even get a ball the entire game. Trying to stay focused the entire game was an adjustment, especially when I got no action.”
But in the end, it never hurts to get experience playing outside the (catcher’s) box.
“At the beginning of the year I didn’t like playing outfield much, I didn’t see it as beneficial,” Ottobre said. “But having versatility to play multiple positions, especially if I’m going off to play college baseball, is a huge help.”
It’s all been part of his interesting — and productive — summer.
Ryan Ottobre at the plate for Hopewell Valley in the spring. Ottobre plays American Legion baseball for Lawrence Post 414. (Photo by Mike Schwartz/mssphoto.com.),
