2013 Standard Democrat Baseball Player of the Year

Ressel stayed constant for champion Eagles

sports@standard-democrat.com

ORAN -- What a difference a year has made in the life of Oran's Seth Ressel.

Just one year after being caught in the middle of one of the most disappointing finishes in school history, the soon-to-be-senior turned into the team's most versatile weapon in 2013.

So clutch was Ressel's performance that he closed out every single playoff game en rout to the Eagle's fairy-tale like run to the first state championship in school history.

It's because of his contributions to his team's historic run and an overall impressive season that Ressel has been selected as the 2013 Standard-Democrat Player of the Year.

"He had an outstanding year," Oran head baseball coach Mitch Wood said. "He really held us together early with his bat and of course his pitching speaks for itself.

"All year long he led off for us, generated things and got things going for us. He made our offense happen."

As a prototypical leadoff hitter, Ressel hit for a .402 average the Eagles while scoring 39 runs and batting in another 12. He drew nine walks one his way to a .465 on-base percentage and slugged .510 on the season while only striking out five times.

It's important to note his performance is far from out of nowhere as he had a breakthrough year in 2012.

His junior numbers are near identical to those of his sophomore campaign, if not slightly better, when Ressel hit for a .409 average at the plate while scoring 36 runs. He also drove in 11 runs as a sophomore and stole 16 bases on his way to being selected first team all-state by the Missouri Baseball Coaches Association.

Though the numbers are similar, Wood said the biggest difference was in Ressel's patience and approach.

"He did a better job offensively this year as far as pitch selection, hitting good pitches," Wood said. "He had a few more walks and did some things like that. I thought he came a long way offensively and defensively he's right up there as well.

"He's maturing every year defensively and of course his arm is getting a little stronger. I just think overall his game and everything has improved. A guy with his speed is going to be a game-changer."

Always a steady presence at the plate, Ressel's most glaring improvement came on the mound.

After taking over as one of the top two starters for the Eagles as a sophomore Ressel continued his ascension as a junior and provided Oran with it's most steady arm this season.

Throwing 70 1/3 innings, Ressel outpaced his nearest teammate (Moore) by 14 2/3 frames, all while putting up a 1.59 earned-run-average and a 10-2 record. He gave up only 13 walks compared to 69 strikeouts and held opposing hitters to a .119 batting-average.

Ressel credits a summer full of baseball and a year of maturity in helping him take on the new role.

"I practically played every weekend last summer and even during the week sometimes too and it helped me out a lot," Ressel said. "I got a little stronger. My pitching was more controlled and I hit spots better. Overall I just grew."

Added Wood, "He came a long way. He's not overpowering, but he just attacks the strike zone real well and has a good offspeed pitch.

"We kind of went down there at the end of the year with him and Kody pitching. It speaks for itself his ERA and innings pitched and stuff like that."

While Oran sent it's seniors and longtime coach Wood out with a sense of closure, this time last season Ressel and the rest of the Eagles where playing a game of 'what ifs' after a late-inning meltdown against Santa Fe in the Class 1 semifinals led to another third-place finish.

Oran had Sturgeon locked in a tie game going into extra-innings and two outs in the top of eighth. A grounder to Ressel at shortstop looked to be the final out of the inning, only a wide throw to the second baseman on the force out plated the eventual winning run.

Unable to rebound in the bottom of the inning, the Eagles were relegated to playing in their second straight third-place game.

Not wanting to feel that same sense of agony, Ressel saved his best stuff for the Eagles' playoffs push this season where he picked up the win in four of Oran's six postseason games and closed out the other two.

In his final start of the season, Ressel went a full seven innings in the Eagles' semifinal game against Sturgeon, allowing only five hits and a walk while fanning seven in a 5-1 decision.

A day later, Ressel faced only one batter in the championship game against the defending champion Santa Fe Chiefs. Ressel caught the kid on a swinging third strike to end the game and seal his team's place in history.

"We just picked ourselves back up," Ressel said of coming back after last season's semifinal collapse. "We knew we could have won it last year and the year before. We bared down this time and stuck with it. I felt we had an edge because we were there two times before and we knew what it was going to be like.

"Coach Wood was leaving after the season so we had even more reason to win and it just played out right."

With a pair of out-spoken seniors on this year's squad in Moore and catcher Alex Heuring, the soft-spoken Ressel chose to lead by example while leaving the motivational speeches to his peers.

That will likely change next year when Ressel will be expected to take the reigns as the elder statesman for the squad.

"They lost a couple real good sticks and he'll have to step up," Wood said. "Not that he'll have to play a lot better, but he's just going to have to be a little more vocal and get some of the younger kids to do a better job than what they did this year."

As for the chances of a repeat as Class 1 champions, Ressel likes the group he'll be coming back with.

"We have so much experience and our outfield is going to be juniors and seniors," he said. "Infield will be juniors and seniors as well. There's a lot of experience and I think we can do it."