Pitcher looks to lazy afternoon by fishing pond
Pam Robel/Columbia Basin Herald<br>Michael Ratigan throws a pitch after practice April 5.
Michael Ratigan discusses baseball, school, plans on spring break
EPHRATA — It is one of those sunny, spring afternoons that will give you a sunburn if you aren't careful and the Ephrata High School baseball team is packing up practice for the day.
"The rest of my day is pretty much grilled cheese and fishing," says Michael Ratigan with a ball dangling from one hand and a ball tucked into the mitt on the other.
He looks at ease on the dugout bench talking about college and life with a baseball bouncing between his hand and his chest, his eyes looking out at the horizon, taking in the baseball field before him.
Ratigan is 18 and has been around baseball since tee ball. He has played for Ephrata High School since his freshman year and now, as a senior, is in the starting rotation as a pitcher and shortstop.
"If you're the pitcher, it's just you and the batter," Ratigan says. "In other sports everyone is doing their own thing."
Ratigan holds the ball, like it were a precious stone or a part of his body, in an absentminded way while he discusses his preferences for pitches and hits and playing college ball.
If he's on the mound the slider is his favorite pitch to catch a batter with and he likes to hit the change-up because "it's slow and straight." As for college, Ratigan says "anywhere is a great place to play."
He is the lanky kind of baseball player one would expect to see rounding the bags and his ease with the equipment he cradles points to his bone-deep love for baseball.
"I'll play in college and then we'll see," Ratigan says.
Ratigan is reticent to talk about his talents such as they are and sticks with discussing things in general terms. "There's always one thing that someone else has. Everyone has their own uniqueness about them."
When Ratigan is not on the baseball diamond, he can usually be found doing the things most kids do in a town the size of Ephrata — spending time with friends, fishing and bowling.
"I'm a straight up bowler," says Ratigan with a grin of his hobbies. He also admits a love of sports that goes beyond just baseball and ventures into basketball and football. "I hate the organization of high school football but pick up games, I love those."
His eye on the future, aside from playing baseball, is set on specific goals.
"Wherever I go to college I want to get a good education so I can have a successful job," Ratigan says. "I'd like to be an architect. My dad is a builder so I'm kind of familiar with it." Ratigan wouldn't mind settling in Alaska after college citing a love for the hunting, fishing and scenery.
Ratigan's other desires are the kind rarely heard from a high school student. "If I could do anything I'd go back in time. Things were simpler then. People more laid back. You wouldn't get in trouble for stepping on someone else's lawn."
At present Ratigan's mind is on the current season and he is keeping in mind his own piece of wisdom.
"Do what you do for yourself. Not for somebody else because you don't want to regret your choices," says Ratigan. "Have no regrets, yeah, that's what I was trying to say.
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