Senior Profile: Paul Ritzheimer

Senior outfielder Paul Ritzheimer has some very different career plans than the majority of his teammates on the Murray State baseball team. A tough out for many pitchers during his three years at Murray State, Ritzheimer will soon give up his leather glove and metal bat for an entirely new profession.

Ritzheimer grew up in a small town in southern Illinois. Throughout his childhood, he played various sports and had dreams of being a pro baseball player.

“I think any little kid who plays ball wants to be a big league player when they grow up,” he said. “At some point in your career, you have to take a step back and have a reality check though. You’ve got to be realistic with yourself.”

In high school, Ritzheimer played baseball, basketball and football. It wasn’t until his senior year, however, that he decided to drop the other sports to focus on baseball.

After high school, Ritzheimer played baseball at Kaskaskia College. During his sophomore year, he suffered a season-ending injury, leaving him with a tough decision.

Ritzheimer was set to graduate in the spring, but several coaches from programs he was talking to encouraged him to stay and play junior college baseball for another season. Murray State, however, was willing to take a chance.

“I figured for my academic purposes it really wasn’t beneficial to go back to junior college,” Ritzheimer said. “Murray State told me they’d still have a spot for me, even though I got hurt the previous year. It wasn’t my only option, but it was my best option, and I was happy with it.”

Since then, Ritzheimer has proven to be one of the ‘Breds’ leading offensive producers. He has started 141 games in his nearly three seasons at Murray State, while hitting for a .311 batting average in 2011 and .299 in 2012.

Hitting, however, hasn’t been the only thing Ritzheimer has been up to during the past three years.

Preparing to graduate with a degree in geographic information systems, Ritzheimer plans to follow in the footsteps of his father, who works for the government as a cartographer. In other words, he makes maps.

While creating maps is probably not the first thing most people would associate with college baseball players, Ritzheimer said he believes growing up in sports has helped to prepare him for his eventual career.

“Sports helps you learn to be a teammate,” Ritzheimer said. “You learn to help others, support others and communicate with people.”

With graduation a little more than a week away, Ritzheimer shares the concerns of many soon-to-be Murray State alumni.

“In this economy, I think anyone’s plan is to hopefully find a job,” Ritzheimer said. “I’d like to work where my dad works, but if it doesn’t work out, I’ve got a few opportunities with some other companies. Anything I can be successful at, I’m going to push myself to try and do.”

While his future is uncertain, Ritzheimer said he is thankful for the memories and the friends he has made at Murray State.

“The people you meet, that’s what you’re going to remember,” Ritzheimer said. “You might not say, yeah we were the best team in the OVC, or we were the most successful, but it’s more about the people you meet and the memories you make with those people.”

Although Murray State baseball fans won’t be watching the star outfielder in the minor leagues next spring, Ritzheimer said he probably will not be able to stay away from the game he loves forever.

Ritzheimer said there might still be some baseball in his future.

“You can’t play a sport for this long and have this many memories,”?Ritzheimer said. “it would be really tough to just give it up.”

Story by Jonathan Ferris, Staff writer.

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