Ruffolo, Ferri try out for Team USA

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Michael Ruffolo (left) and Sam Ferri will be participating in the 14U National Team Trials at the National Training Complex in Cary, N.C., Sept. 9-11.

Updated: November 4, 2011 5:53PM

Norridge has a chance to make some noise on the national baseball scene when two of its young residents will take part in the 14U National Team Trials.

Michael Ruffolo and Sam Ferri, both 13 years old, have excelled on the baseball diamonds of Norridge, and they qualified along with 16 other players out of hundreds who tried out from the Great Lakes Region based on their impressive showing at their tryout at Schaumburg’s Alexian Field.

The team trials take place at the National Training Complex in Cary, N.C., Sept. 9-11 with the qualifiers making the squad and competing as part of Team USA in the Pan American Games in the Dominican Republic later next summer.

Ruffolo is a shortstop and pitcher in Norridge, but will be looked at as a pitcher and outfielder at the national tryouts while Ferri pitches and plays first base at home, but will catch and pitch at nationals. Ruffolo is a lead-off hitter while Ferri was the offensive anchor of the 13U Norridge team hitting in the third spot.

“He’ll take a great leadership role,” said head coach Rich Ruffolo regarding Ferri. “He has talent on the field and is an unbelievable pitcher. He has great mannerisms on the mound and is always very composed. The smarter players are usually the catchers, and he’s an unbelievable catcher for his age group. He does a phenomenal job calling a game. He hits for average and power, and he’s an RBI machine. “

The John V. Leigh School students were key parts of last year’s 13U national championship team and look to bring that experience to the national team.

“He knows where he should be and everyone should be on the field,” assistant coach Mike Ferri said of Michael Ruffolo. “He knows the (defensive) coverage (duties) for different situations and which bag to be at. He has a great mental approach and is a five-tool player. He’s a four-pitch pitcher with a fastball, change, curve, and cutter, and he has command of all four pitches, which is rare. He can throw any of them in any count, always keeping the batters off-balance, which is very rare at this age. In the outfield the jumps he gets are second to none. His throws are on target to the cut-off man, and his footwork is exceptional, and that is some stuff you just can’t teach.”

They’ve even spent some time on the 14U Norridge team, which is ranked 12th in the country. There they’ve been exposed to the field dimensions they’ll deal with at the national level of 90 feet bases and 60 feet, 6 inches from the mound to home plate. They’re both right-handed and usually get just a few months off from baseball a year. The season in Norridge goes from April through October, and the boys start training in January. They have been to Cooperstown, the site of the Baseball Hall of Fame, and have participated in numerous big tournaments in addition to last year’s championship, and all that experience proved helpful in this national tryout.

The coaches of the Norridge team are also the fathers of the respective players, and that makes their selection into the final tryout that much more special for everyone. The pride they have in what their sons have accomplished and the great opportunity that lies ahead for them is evident.

“One of the most gratifying things about the situation is that normally we’re the coaches when they’re playing,” said Rich Ruffolo. “This time we were just the dads. We didn’t have a say in all of this so we were there hoping like every father with our hands tied and unable to make any impact on the decision. They saw their talent and not just us. To meet their high level of expectations for our sons as coaches and fathers was rewarding.”