Quick Facts
CancerBiography
Ritchie L. Price (born July 13, 1984) is an American college baseball coach and former shortstop. He is an assistant baseball coach at the University of Kansas. Price played college baseball at the University of Kansas before pursuing a professional career. Price was the head baseball coach at South Dakota State University from 2007 to 2011.
Amateur career
Price attended San Luis Obispo High School in San Luis Obispo, California. Playing for the school's varsity baseball team for three years, he recorded a .392 batting average and 24 career stolen bases. Upon graduation, he enrolled at the University of Kansas, to play college baseball for the Kansas Jayhawks baseball team.
As a freshman at Kansas in 2003, Price had a .319 batting average, a .400 on-base percentage (OBP), and a .366 SLG, with eleven doubles. He was named a All-Big 12 Conference honorable mention at shortstop.
As a sophomore in 2004, Price batted .339 with a .399 SLG, 1 home run, and 47 RBIs. He was named second team All-Big 12 and he also set a school record for hits by a sophomore with 84.
In the 2005 season as a junior, Price hit 2 home runs and 14 doubles. He was named a Big 12 honorable mention. Following his junior season at Kansas, Price played collegiate summer baseball for the Yarmouth–Dennis Red Sox of the Cape Cod Baseball League, where he batted 6-for-24 (.250) and had a .471 OBP.
Price returned to school for a senior season in 2006, helping the Jayhawks to their first-ever Big 12 Conference Tournament championship and third ever NCAA Tournament appearance.
Professional career
The New York Mets chose Price with the eighteenth pick of the 18th round of the 2006 Major League Baseball draft. Price began his professional career with the Brooklyn Cyclones of the Class A-Short Season New York–Penn League, where he batted .000 with one run scored. He was demoted to the Kingsport Mets of the Rookie Appalachian League on June 29. He hit .252 with three doubles for Kingston.
Coaching career
In 2007, Price was named a graduate assistant at South Dakota State.
On June 15, 2008, Price was named the full-time head coach of the Jackrabbits.
On June 30, 2011, Price was named an assistant coach for the Kansas Jayhawks baseball team.
Head coaching record
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| South Dakota State Jackrabbits (Summit League) | |||||||||
| 2009 | South Dakota State | 26–30 | 17–10 | 3rd | Summit Tournament | ||||
| 2010 | South Dakota State | 39–21 | 19–9 | 1st | Summit Tournament | ||||
| 2011 | South Dakota State | 37–20 | 20–8 | 2nd | Summit Tournament | ||||
| South Dakota State: | 102–71 | 56–27 | |||||||
| Total: | 102–71 | ||||||||
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