Kevin Ritsche is WSSU's new interim baseball coach.
Winston-Salem State University (WSSU) will field a baseball team next spring for the first time since 1973.
“Having a baseball team was a requirement to join the CIAA, but beyond that, it is a great sport to add to the athletic roster,” said Chancellor Donald J. Reaves. “I believe a Rams baseball team will be good for the university’s athletic program and for the image of the university as an athletic competitor. As an avid baseball fan, I am certainly excited.”
“I understand why the CIAA wanted to expand the conference’s baseball presence,” said Bill Hayes, WSSU’s athletic director. “Developing an eight-team league will definitely create more competitive play within the conference. As for WSSU, I think the local community is much more excited about baseball in general as shown by the attendance at DASH games in Winston-Salem and Grasshopper games in Greensboro. I am hopeful that the growing interest in baseball will create support for our team as well.”
Chancellor Reaves (left) and WSSU director of Athletics (right) listen as Ritsche answers questions from the media.
WSSU has hired Kevin Ritsche as interim, part-time head coach in an effort to move the baseball program forward. Ritsche has been an assistant professor in exercise science at the university since 2006. He was team captain and later a graduate assistant for the varsity baseball team at The College of St. Scholastica in Duluth, Minn., where he earned his graduate and undergraduate degrees in exercise physiology. He was also a two-time Academic All-American and selected for the Midwest Baseball All-Region First Team in 2004.
The CIAA now requires that schools entering the conference have a baseball program. With the addition of Chowan University, Lincoln University and now WSSU, eight of the 13 CIAA schools will have baseball teams next spring.
