North Central College Athletics

Ken Ritter stands out above the rest when it comes to baseball and North Central College, named National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III Player of the Year in 1988 by the American Baseball Coaches Association. 

Ritter was also the NCAA III statistical champ for batting in 1988 (.577), a record that still stands. Ritter holds three College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) records and ranks in eight different career NCAA categories. Ritter holds North Central career records for batting average (.463), slugging percentage (.890), on-base percentage (.568), runs (179), hits (245), triples (14), home runs (53), total bases (471) and runs batted in (234). He also holds eight single-season records. Ritter's teams were CCIW Champions for three years and 1987 World Series participants. 

Ritter capped his North Central baseball career with a battling average of .577, a slugging percentage of percentage of 1.202, and an on-base percentage of .692. Ritter was named CCIW Player of the Year as well as being on the first team to reach All-Region status at NCC. He was the first bid for the NCAA DIII World Series, was named the 1988 NCAA DIII Player of the Year, and signed onto the Oakland Athletics to play professional ball after graduation. Ritter was signed by the Oakland Athletics and spent two years in Class A ball.