Elijah Ricks ready and raring for St. Francis

After Pacifica American fell one game shy of the Little League World Series last year, Ricks debuted with the Zoots 13-and-under team. And just two weeks after returning home from the 60-foot bases of the West Regional playoffs in San Bernardino, the 5-11 slugger was playing in a wood bat tournament against 16 year olds on a regulation diamond with 90-foot bases.

This year, Ricks contemplated playing for the Pacifica PONY-13 squad, with friends who have been his teammates since they began playing as 7 year olds. But the caliber of the travel-ball circuit was simply too strong to pass up.

“I was going to play for the Pacifica team,” Ricks said. “I had the tryout and everything. But at the end I just decided to play travel ball all summer.”

While Ricks took some grief from his former Pacifica teammates, refining his skills for the regulation diamond was the priority with his freshman year at St. Francis now just a month from beginning. He got plenty of that experience with Zoots, as the 13U team concluded its season in early July at the 14U USA Baseball West National Championships in Goodyear, Arizona.

“There comes a point in time where Elijah is going to dominate Little League,” Zoots manager Joe Bettencourt said. “At some point in time, it’s about testing yourself against the best players. So, he decided this year that he was going to do it fulltime and test the waters and see exactly where his skill level was at.”

Ricks seems to have passed the test, as did his entire team. Of the 64 teams playing at the finale tournament in Goodyear, all but Zoots were 14-and-under teams. Yet Ricks, batting in his signature No. 2 spot in the order all summer, helped the team to the championship game going 4 for 6 over the final two games of the tourney.

And on the mound, he dazzled in the semifinal game, firing three shutout innings of relief to close out a 6-5 win over California Baseball Academy. It turned out to be the final win of the season for Zoots as they fell in the championship game. Still, Ricks made quite an impression in his first full season with the travel team.

“He carried himself with a lot of character,” Bettencourt said. “I thought he showed a lot of leadership. Physically, he was just way more physical than the other guys. I thought overall he did a phenomenal job.”

It was hardly the first time Ricks has been in the spotlight though. Previously he played for two seasons with the Lamorinda travel team based in the East Bay. And two seasons ago as part of the Team USA 12-and-under squad, he traveled to Taiwan where the team won the 12U gold medal.

Then, of course, there was last season, when Ricks took the ball for Pacifica American under the bright lights of San Bernardino and ESPN3 and pitched a two-hit shutout in a 1-0 win over Hawaii in the semifinals.

Bettencourt agreed 1-0 games in Little League are a rare sight.

“It’s super, super rare,” Bettencourt said. “What makes it unique, nowadays kids are getting so big and so strong that in Little League, you’re pitching from 46 feet, where Elijah had just come from pitching from 54 feet. So, it becomes where kids can dominate from 46 feet.”

Zoots — founded in 2008 by Cal great and ex-big leaguer Jon Zuber — has a range of squads based on various age groups. Bettencourt coaches the 13U, 17U and Elite Team. He said Ricks might play for the Elite Team as early as next year.

“There’s always the option for next year as a freshman, just so he can get mentored by the other players who are much older,” Bettencourt said. “If not, he will go to the [17U] squad for sure, and then his sophomore year would be the latest he would come up.”

For Ricks, his sights are set on the immediate future and building a foundation for a strong career through the three-tier system of the freshman, junior-varsity and varsity teams at St. Francis.

“I’m going to go one by one,” Ricks said. “My goal is I’m going to make the J.V. team as a freshman.”