College Baseball Daily continues our countdown to the start of the 2011 College Baseball season by checking in on the Top 100 Players in the country. We will be providing one player per day until we reach number 1.
We continue the countdown today at number 44 with Arizona State junior outfielder Johnny Ruettiger. The Joliet, Illinois, native attended Joliet Catholic Academy as he picked up three letters in baseball serving as the team captain for two years. As a senior, he went 11-2 on the mound while having a career batting average of .450. He was named a Rawlings All-American while also being named conference player of the year and first team all-state. He was selected by the Texas Rangers in the 35th round (1,053rd overall) in the 2008 MLB Draft but decided to head to Arizona State.
As a freshman in 2009, he served mainly as the designated hitter played in 50 games (29 starts) while hitting .360 with a homer and 13 RBI. He was also solid on the basepaths stealing 12 bases. He spent the summer of 2009 in the Cape Cod Baseball League with the Hyannis Harbor Hawks as he played in 28 games with a .255 batting average while driving in six runs.
Johnny’s sophomore season saw him play in 55 games (54 starts) as he hit .351 with four homers and 35 RBI. He was patient at the plate as he drew 30 walks while showing decent speed with 10 stolen bases. He spent the summer of 2010 in the Cape Cod Baseball League again with the Harbor Hawks. This past summer he ended up hitting .369 with five RBI in 27 games. His .369 batting average was tops in the league as he edged out Memphis outfielder Drew Martinez for the batting title. Ruettigger participated in the Cape Cod Baseball League All-Star game where he went 0-5. (Live Blog|Recap).
You can check out the rest of our Top 100 by clicking here.
