Elgin-area POY Perez one of a kind

Updated: June 24, 2011 2:01PM

By definition, talent is a special natural ability or aptitude.

When it comes to what Ryan Perez possesses on the baseball field, that entry in the dictionary doesn’t quite seem to do the Westminster Christian junior justice.

Merely calling Perez talented is an understatement considering his ability to dominate on the pitching mound with both his right and left arms. As the regional and national media members who covered Perez in recent months now realize, the 6-foot, 170-pound ambidextrous kid from Hampshire isn’t just some sideshow act playing high school ball out in Elgin.

Simply put, Perez is the real deal.

Quantifying Perez’s talent is as easy as looking at his gaudy statistics, which included a 9-1 pitching record, a 1.38 ERA and an area-best 143 strikeouts in 66 innings.

Those numbers put Perez on par with a number of other local baseball players who enjoyed stellar 2011 seasons. Among the best this year were Perez’s Warriors teammate Kevin Elder, Streamwood senior Josh Harris, Burlington Central junior Tanner Scott and St. Charles East senior standouts Wes Benjamin and Tony Rallo.

All of those players proved to be game changers this year, but none could quite give his team the advantage Perez provides Westminster as a switch pitcher, switch hitter and solid middle infielder. That’s why Perez is the 2011 Courier-News Player of the Year.

“Ryan is the complete package,” Westminster coach Jeff Moeller said. “Everybody obviously knows about his pitching ability, but he also plays the field well and is good up at the plate.”

Domination is the norm

There’s no denying Perez’s pitching ability will be his ticket to bigger and better things within the game of baseball down the road.

In his third varsity season, the nagging lower back injury that hampered Perez as a sophomore was long gone and he was able to show off his ability uninhibited for the entire season.

The results were staggering as Perez struck out 55 percent of the 260 batters he faced. He also allowed a meager 16 hits and issued only 23 walks.

Perez took part in four no-hitters this season. The first came on April 5 when he went the distance against Rockford East. He later combined with Elder for no-hitters against Marengo on April 11 and a formidable St. Francis team April 23.

Perez’s most incredible outing came against Luther North on April 25 in a game that was shortened to five innings. In that contest Perez threw a perfect game, striking out 13 of the 15 batters he faced.

Another noteworthy performance came in Westminster’s sectional semifinal loss to eventual Class 2A state runner-up Walther Lutheran. Perez lasted four innings in that contest, and all 12 outs he recorded came via strikeout.

For Perez, the ridiculous strikeout totals and the sense of being in complete control on the mound boils down to a simple approach: Getting ahead in the count.

“The key is getting a first-pitch strike all the time,” Perez said. “It’s all about the first-pitch strike.”

Perez employs a full repertoire of pitches with both arms. Included in that arsenal is a fastball that early in the season was clocked at 89 mph from the right side and 87 mph from the left.

Under the direction of Westminster’s coaching staff — which includes Perez’s father Juan Perez as the pitching coach — Ryan Perez typically uses one arm for a few innings before switching to the other arm. Sometimes he alternates arms every other game.

According to Westminster senior Frank Oliver, who served as the Warriors’ catcher the past few seasons, the difference from one arm to the other is negligible.

“The thing about Ryan is since he has been trained from so young to do this, it looks very natural from either side,” Oliver said. “From behind the plate it’s almost like a mirror effect because he looks so similar pitching with his right and left hand.

“I’ve heard people say he maybe throws harder with his right arm or his off-speed stuff is better with his left arm, but it really looks very similar either way. Usually he has good velocity and good off-speed whether it’s the right arm or left arm.”

A well-rounded approach

Perez was once again a fixture in the top half of Westminster’s batting order this season, and he delivered by posting a .373 average to go with three home runs, nine doubles, 22 RBI and a team-best 32 runs scored. He also had a team-high 17 stolen bases.

When Perez isn’t on the mound he plays shortstop or second base, and this season he committed only four errors in 76 chances for a .947 fielding percentage. For Perez, contributing in so many different ways comes as second nature.

“Since Westminster is such a small school you kind of have to help out in other ways, but I like helping anyway,” Perez said. “I enjoy playing the infield and I think it’s fun.”

That level-headed approach is one of Perez’s strong suits, according to Moeller, who commends his young star for not becoming distracted this season as his profile grew with exposure in a number of major media outlets, including Yahoo! and ESPN’s Chicago-based website.

“Ryan is a humble kid,” Moeller said. “He doesn’t get a big head and he doesn’t get crazy or anything.

“That kind of carries to the mound. Ryan just has so much poise up there and it never seems like anything rattles him. His mind-set is great and that’s what you want out of a pitcher, someone who stays focused no matter the situation and executes pitches.”

Always getting better

There is always room to improve for Perez, who points to several areas where he feels he made strides this season.

“I’d say my command is a lot better this year,” said Perez, who came into the 2011 season ranked No. 8 in Prep Baseball Report’s list of the top junior prospects in Illinois. “I got better with my bullpen work and my game situations, and my arm strength is better too. I do a lot of long toss and I’ve seen my numbers increase.”

Perez says his focus this summer will be to continue building arm strength, and he hopes to improve the velocity in his left arm up to 90 mph.

The coming months will be busy for Perez, who despite being only 17 is playing with the Chi-Town Cream, an elite travel team for 18-year-olds. Perez is also participating in several high-profile showcase events, including The Perfect Game Junior National Showcase, which was held earlier this week in Fort Myers, Fla., and included approximately 115 of the top sophomores and juniors in the country.

Through three varsity seasons Perez owns a 22-3 record with 277 strikeouts in 155 2/3 innings. Elder’s numbers are similar, and with both all-state pitchers expected back for their fourth varsity seasons in 2012 the sky appears to be the limit for Westminster.

The duo helped the Warriors post a 25-8 record and claim a regional championship in the program’s first season at the Class 2A level this spring. Those accomplishments came on the heels of a 2010 season that saw Perez and Elder lead Westminster to the Class 1A state championship.

“It feels like yesterday I was a freshman coming into high school,” Perez said. “Now we’re going to be seniors, so this will be the year to finish strong.”

© 2012 Sun-Times Media, LLC. All rights reserved. This material may not be copied or distributed without permission. For more information about reprints and permissions, visit www.suntimesreprints.com. To order a reprint of this article, click here.