Parents: Yvonne and Chris Pritt
Sister: Jensen
Ryan played baseball at Lutheran High School from 2011 to 2014. He made many contributions to his teams and was an excellent teammate. Ryan primarily played second base in his career but also did some pitching. He was the starter at 2B for his sophomore thru senior seasons. In his career, Ryan was part of four Sectional Championship teams.
Ryan was very competitive and wanted to do his best to help his teams win. He was fun to be around as a player, but I think he toned down some things when he was around me and the other coaches! His senior year was his best as he was very comfortable in his role and was one of the leaders of the team.
For his career, Ryan’s teams won 62 games. His career batting average was .304. He had an outstanding year at second base his senior year with a Fielding Average of .935.
A personal memory for me with Ryan is in his Junior season, he had a couple of errors in a game at Park Tudor in the first two innings and I substituted for him. He did not play in the game the following day. The next day we had practice and after the guys had warmed up, I said to Ryan “Get your glove!” He went out to second base and I think I hit him around 50 groundballs. He really had to work. He did not complain or slow down. He went after all of the balls like he had to get them. I wanted Ryan to regain his confidence. He did not play in a few more games but he then returned to the line-up and did not leave it until he graduated. Ryan demonstrated his willingness to be coached, his desire to be successful and a great work ethic.
Ryan passed away while serving as a staff sergeant in the Air Force and stationed in Japan. He thrived in maintaining the planes and doing his job, just as he did on the baseball diamond for the Saints.
Ryan is missed. Rest in peace.
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