Ringo gets the walking treatment

He has already walked 30 times this season, including 26 during a recent 13-game stretch.

On April 25 against Oak Lawn, he walked four times.

Oak Forest, Andrew and Lincoln-Way East all walked him three times.

In six other games, he walked twice.

Amazingly, he has recorded four official at-bats during a given game on just four occasions all season.

Welcome to the world of Justin Ringo, the Stanford-bound Stagg slugger who is being pitched to as if his bat were infected with swine flu.

“I would 100 percent do the same thing, depending on the situation of the game,” Stagg coach Matt O’Neill admitted of opposing teams’ strategy regarding Ringo.

Of course, with the game on the line in the bottom of the seventh inning, I can’t fault coaches for walking Ringo and forcing another player on Stagg’s roster to come up with the big hit.

But this game of Chicken Run whenever Ringo steps to the dish with runners on base is borderline lunacy.

Some of the walks can be attributed to Ringo’s keen batting eye, which can decipher a ball from a strike as good as any player the area has ever developed.

Many, however, are directly linked to opposing managers directing their pitcher to not give the teenager anything good to hit.

“I don’t really get frustrated,” Ringo, a Palos Park resident, said. “Of course I wish I would get more pitches to hit. But I take it as a sign of respect.”

As well he should.

But this is high school baseball, where “fun” should remain high on the priority ladder.

Hitting is fun.

Competition is fun.

Constantly walking isn’t.

Nor is it fun for pitchers, many of whom possess the repertoire to challenge the left-handed-hitting Ringo, to give in and walk him.

Yes, Ringo has walloped 28 homers during his three-year varsity career.

But in the name of high school baseball, will somebody exhibit the guts to more frequently allow their pitcher to challenge him with their best stuff.

Granted, I’ve been covering high school baseball for 19 years, and Ringo is firmly situated among the top five hitters ever.

In terms of a pure batting eye, he might be alone at the top.

He situates himself in the deepest part of the batter’s box, his stance slightly open, which allows both eyes to get a clear look at the pitcher. It’s a fairly common batting stance.

What is uncommon is the bat speed he generates. It’s off the charts.

Still, he is a teenager, a work in progress.

Somewhere, there is a hole, a deficiency, in his lightning-quick swing. It’s difficult to pinpoint where, when he’s constantly being walked.

“Our philosophy was to not let him beat us,” said Oak Lawn coach Brian Clifton, whose Spartans downed Stagg 3-2. “When he came up with runners on base, we didn’t give him nothing in the heart of the plate. It was more or less the unintentional intentional walk. He’s got a heck of an eye.”

I covered Stagg’s game April 29 against Lockport. Ringo was hit by a pitch in the first inning, walked in the third, hit by a pitch again in the fifth and then, with the Chargers trailing 4-2 and the bases empty in the seventh, just missed launching a ball to Beverly and flied out to the right-field fence.

“Oh, man, he’s something else,” Lockport coach Steve Stanicek said. “You don’t want to pitch to him if you don’t have to.”

Which would be when the game is on the line.

If he launches a home run that beats you, so be it. Tip your cap, shake hands and move on.

He was 20-for-50, with nine doubles, two homers and 21 RBI after Tuesday. Those numbers are considerably off the pace of his previous two seasons.

All I know is if I’m a top pitcher in the area, I would gladly accept the challenge of trying to get one of the area’s greatest hitters out.

That’s what memories are made of.

“What it means is that we have guys hitting with men on base,” said O’Neill, whose Chargers were 12-10-1 through Tuesday. “It really should be a good thing for our team. He (Ringo) runs well and is a great baserunner, so it should be a benefit to the hitter. Obviously, I would like to see him get more pitches to hit, from our team’s perspective.”

From my perspective, as an unbiased reporter and baseball fan, I would, too.

Pat Disabato can be reached at pdisabato@southtownstar.com or (708) 802-8837.