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Ryan Willever shows off the MCALL Joe Logue Player of the Year Award, which was presented to him on July 20, 2023. freshman.

“I don’t think I even swung the bat,” he said. “I walked on four pitches.”

After getting that out of the way, Willever went on to a solid career in both high school and legion. He had a .298 career average with the Cardinals, highlighted by a senior season in which he hit .404. For Post 414 Ryan made strides each year and enjoyed his best season to date in 2022.

“I thought I had a chance at (Player of the Year) last year,” he said. “I played really well last year. Not getting it kind of upset me a little bit. But getting it this year felt really good.”

He went out and had an even better year this summer, as it would be hard to argue against Willever’s selection.

In the regular season he hit .469 with seven doubles, 13 RBI, a team-high nine stolen bases and 18 runs scored. He excelled equally on the mound, going 3-0 with a 1.00 ERA and just four walks while striking out 26.

“Two years ago we won our first-ever Final Eight game, that was super special,” Willever said. “And going back for the fourth time in my last year is great. It gives me a chance to keep playing with the guys.”

Willever is obviously a big reason why Lawrence keeps getting back to the states. Aside from his offense, he plays first base, third base, shortstop and catcher. As a pitcher, he can start, pitch long relief or close.

“He’s the ultimate utility guy, the ultimate jack of all trades,” Zegarski said. “He’s probably our number three or four pitcher, but he’s our main utility pitcher because he can pitch wherever we need him. And in the field, he goes anywhere we need him to play.

“He’s also one of the nicest kids we’ve ever had. Just a great kid to have on the team.”

At the plate, Willever is disciplined, and also fearless when it comes to balls smacking into his body. He did not play in college during the spring, but took swings constantly at CenterCourt Baseball in Lawrence to keep himself sharp.

“He’s not your typical power hitting lefty, he’ll use all fields,” Zegarski said. “I tell him all the time ‘Stay left center, right over the shortstop’s head.

“And for some reason I’ve never seen anybody get hit by more pitches than Ryan Willever. I don’t know if he’s got a magnet for the ball in his elbow guards but I’ve never seen anybody get hit more. It may hurt but whenever he gets hit he just kind of laughs it off.”

On the mound, Willever has an ample arsenal to choose from.

“He has nice velocity, a nice curveball, a little change-up,” Zegarski said. “He’s always ready. If we need him and we know we’re in a tight situation we’ll look to wherever he is on the field and we’ll say ‘You good?’ He’ll give us the thumbs up and we know we’re good.”

The hardest part of that process is remembering where to look on the field, since Willever plays so many positions. That is a talent Ryan learned by diversifying himself throughout his career.

“In little league my dad coached me and he wasn’t the guy to always put me at shortstop, he put me all over the place,” Willever said. “That really helped me just get comfortable. When I started playing travel I didn’t say I just played one position, I said I played a bunch of positions just to try to get on the field. My main focus was to try and get on the field any way possible. Playing all those different positions put me in a good spot to do that.”

In post-season play, the lefty was the winning pitcher in Lawrence’s 8-6 win over North Hamilton in a District 4 state elimination game. With Ryan collecting two hits and three RBI, Post 414 beat Washington Twp. two days later to reach the Final 8 of the state tournament for the fourth straight year. The states started on July 21. See WILLEVER, Page 10

After graduating from Lawrence in 2022, Willever went to Rowan College of South Jersey (formerly Gloucester County College) but said “It just wasn’t for me.” He transferred to Mercer but is unsure if he will play for the Vikings, who only made an offer for him to pitch.

“I haven’t made a full decision if I’m gonna play,” he said. “Pitching is not my favorite spot to play, I’d rather play anywhere in the infield and hit.”

But he did enjoy pitching for Post 414, especially when his brother Connor served as his catcher. Connor was a freshman on the high school team, and this marked the first time the two brothers ever got to play together.

“It was definitely cool,” Ryan said.” There were some mixed emotions there. Sometimes it can get really annoying from my point of view. Pitching to him was super fun, I never thought I’d have been able to do that. Having him on the team is great. I love having him on the team, even if he’s my little brother and he gets annoying sometimes.”

Isn’t that what little brothers are for?

“Exactly,” Willever said with a laugh. “That’s their job.”

Connor made the most of his limited time this year, batting .304 (4-for-13) with two RBI and two stolen bases.

“I really liked him behind the dish,”

Zegarski said. “As a freshman he receives the ball well, he got a few hits for us when he played. He definitely has a bright future as long as he keeps working hard.”

Connor was part of Lawrence High’s most successful team in 50 years this past spring and, unfortunately for Ryan, he had to live vicariously through his brother to enjoy the massive accomplishments that he missed out on by a year.

“I got to see a lot of the games,” Willever said. “It was nice to see how much success they get but I was definitely bummed out that I missed out on it.”

Entering the Final 8, Willever was hoping to go out on a high note in legion, an organization he has remained loyal to while also playing travel ball with CenterCourt.

“It was just a fun environment to play in,” he said. “I knew how many schools we pulled from my first two years and this year we added Hopewell too. Knowing how good our team can be and knowing this coach is going to watch out for me; it was more just a place where I could go have fun and not have to worry.”

Especially since he has stopped introducing himself to teammates in the middle of a game.