Success has been a family affair for the Springfield varsity baseball team the past two years, and that success could reach new heights this season thanks to the father-son duo of Andy and Dan Ritch. Andy Ritch is the third-year coach leading the Spartans; Dan is the do-it-all player leading the team to wins at three different positions. With their help, the Spartans have bolted out of the gate with a 6-1 record, 4-0 in Portage Trail Conference play.

“We’re 6-1, but we really feel like we should be 7-0,” Dan said.

Among those seven wins are two against the Field Falcons, the team that swept the Spartans last season and cost them the PTC Metro Division title. “That win gave this team a lot of confidence,” the elder Ritch explains. “We had kids stepping up all over the field, especially in that first win against Field last Tuesday, when we were down 6-3 going into the bottom of the seventh inning and scored four runs to win.”

On the heels of that win, Springfield defeated the Falcons again the next day and continued their strong start to PTC play.

In the strong start, one constant has been solid play from Dan, who pitches, plays center field and shortstop for the team depending on who is pitching in a given game. He has posted a 1-0 record on the mound, stolen 10 bases and is among the team leaders in hits, runs and RBI. On the mound, his success has come thanks to a varied repertoire of pitches that he’s used to keep hitters off balance.

“I do throw the fastball,” he admits. “But I also throw a lot of curve balls, and I like using off-speed pitches to keep hitters guessing.”

That approach led him to All-PTC status last season, and varying pitches also fits in well with the team’s motto for the season: “One pitch at a time.”

“We have that written on our chalkboard in the locker room,” Andy points out. “One of our guys wanted to write that it was one game at a time, but I told them baseball is a game that can change on a single pitch, so that’s what we wrote.”

So what’s it like for Dan, playing for his father?

“It can be tough at times,” Dan concedes. “But I love it, because everything I’ve learned in this game I’ve learned from him, so I enjoy being able to play for him.”

The situation can be challenging for Andy as well. While people might expect that a father coaching his son might treat him better or be easier on him than on other players, both father and son admit that in this setting, Andy can often be tougher on his son than anyone.

“He knows what I’m capable of, definitely, so he pushes me a lot,” Dan explains.
Both Andy and Dan are hoping that the early season success they are experiencing will carry over into the postseason. The team is looking to get past the wall it has hit in the second round of the district tournament each of the past two seasons.

“We’ve been together for so long,” Dan recalls. “Everyone wants to push everyone else to succeed.”