Joe Ravert put up respectable mound numbers for Malvern Prep last season, going 4-1 with a 2.10 ERA and 42 strikeouts in 40 innings.
"Those are decent stats for a high school pitcher," the righthander said, "but I wasn't too happy. Toward the end of the year, I lost control. I was pretty wild."
Ravert worked diligently on his mechanics in the offseason, while playing for the All-Star Baseball Academy, and this spring improved in effectiveness.
While leading the Friars to a 31-5 record and a second straight Inter-Academic League championship, the 6-foot-3, 225-pound workhorse went 6-0 with a 0.45 ERA and 53 strikeouts in 47 innings. He also notched three saves.
Ravert contributed as a first baseman and No. 5 hitter, too, posting a .406 average (39 for 96) with 38 RBIs and 25 runs.
For the contributions he provided with his arm and bat, Ravert, who is headed to La Salle, is The Inquirer's Southeastern Pennsylvania baseball player of the year.
Following in the footsteps of former Malvern Prep southpaws Tim Cooney (Wake Forest) and Chris O'Brien (North Carolina), Ravert seized the reins as staff ace and flourished.
"Joe became 'that guy' for us this year," Friars coach Freddy Hilliard said. "Whenever he pitched, he gave us a solid shot at winning."
At the plate, Hilliard said, "his hits always seemed to come in big situations. He came through in the clutch."
The 18-year-old mixes a fastball clocked in the 85- to 88-m.p.h. range, curveball, change-up, and slider.
"I try to use all my pitches," Ravert said. "My goal is to keep the hitters off balance."
In an April matchup against Inter-Ac rival Penn Charter, Ravert, of Havertown, keyed a 9-3 triumph by holding the Quakers to four hits and fanning 10 in five innings. He walked one.
"He always wanted the ball in big games, even as a sophomore," Hilliard said. "He wasn't intimidated by any situation."
With Ravert, a lefthanded hitter, slamming two homers and striking out six in five innings, the Friars blanked Chestnut Hill Academy, 10-0, in the semifinals of the Pennsylvania Independent Schools Tournament.
Ravert's brother, Ed, was a catcher for the Friars (Class of 2010) and now plays the same position at Scranton. His sister, Lynn, was a softball backstop at St. Joseph's.
Joe Ravert, an erstwhile football player, is expected to be a two-position player for La Salle. He plans to major in business administration.
Contact Rick O'Brien at robrien@phillynews.com, or @ozoneinq on Twitter. Read his blog, "The O'Zone," at www.philly.com/ozone
