Inside the Clubhouse: Ralph Velazquez

On a drive to a tournament at Big League Dreams, a 10-year old Velazquez and his father Armando had a conversation about whether or not Ralph could clear the 300-ft. fences.

“You think I can hit one out now,”  Ralph asked. 

“You're only 10, but maybe when you're 12,” Armando said.

Ralph ended up hitting a homerun that day. The ball soared over the fence and nearly cleared the entire stadium, which was a replica version of Fenway Park at Big League Dreams.

“I've always been a big physical kid, hitting home runs,” Ralph says. "Everytime I play the game, I think, ‘have fun.’ It's a kids game.”

Fast forward about seven years to February at the Area Code Game West, Ralph proved (again) he can leave the real MLB stadiums too. He went 4-for-4 at Dodger Stadium, including a homer to dead center with a wooden bat. He ended up reaching base in all six of his appearances at the plate.

Ranked No. 6 in the state by Prep Baseball Report, Ralph stands at 6-foot-3 and 210 pounds. The left hander has pro-caliber pop to all fields and has proven time and time again that he’s arguably got the best left-handed bats not only in California, but the entire country.

In 2022 for the Huntington Beach Oilers, he hit .391 with nine homers and 25 RBIs across 34 games. He helped lead the Oilers to another Sunset League title, as well as a deep playoff run that resulted in a CIF SoCal Regional D1 championship.

Huntington Beach’s field might be recognizable for the 295 fence down in left. Ralph uses the fence to his advantage (though he doesn’t need it) and says it's a part of the field he visits often.

"That's where I go all the time, left field. Just poke it over there, easy,” Ralph said.

One of those homers came up in the clutch during that regional D1 final against another top team in JSerra. The game had gone into the late innings with the score knotted up at 0-0. Weeks earlier, the Oilers had come up short in the Southern Section semifinals vs eventual champion Notre Dame, and were looking for some redemption.

“Going into that game, everyone was trying to get big and trying to end it. I'll be honest, I tried to lift one, which I shouldn't have, and I popped up,” Ralph said.

JSerra had been throwing breaking balls to Ralph the previous at bat, before they finally decided to come back at him with a heater in the eighth inning.

“Coach Brett Urabe came up to me before I got up there and he said, 'you're going to end this game,’” Ralph said. “He threw me a fastball and I just stood inside of it and I poked it over left field. I had no words. Still have no words. It was the craziest feeling.”

Defensively, Ralph has made strides with his catching abilities. He’s the type of kid that’s eager in any way, shape or form to better his game.

During his first three years at Huntington, he hadn’t been able to spend any time behind the dish because there were either logjams at the position, or other holes in the lineup that needed to be filled at first or third. 

But the plan this year, Huntington Head Coach Benji Medure says, is to get Ralph some reps at catcher, as they’ll be fielding a tandem between him and Long Beach State-commit Trent Gridlinger.

"We're going to move him around, because if he's behind the plate, it makes our defense strong, and if he's at first, it makes our defense strong too,” Medure said. “It's a good time to see his skills behind the plate. That's a player where you've seen a jump where you're like, 'man, he's good.'”

Over the offseason, Ralph worked with his catching coach Andrew Camacho to improve his game by learning some basic concepts.

“I didn't catch my freshman, sophomore or junior year, and when I went back there, I was still in the mentality that I didn't know what one knee down was, I didn't know about starting low to high or framing pitches. It was just, ‘put your glove out there and try to stick it.’"

The arm was always there for Ralph, but it was about getting in position to best utilize that throwing ability.

“We just tried to simplify everything and play to his strength,” Camacho said. “The best part of his game physically has got to be his arm. He was just trying to do too much at times when in reality, the kid's arm can operate on its own without the legs if he needs to, it's that good.”

He also spent time this offseason focusing on dropping weight, becoming more agile and light on his feet. Medure pointed out that he’s now able to run the bases much better than before. Ralph attributed 6 a.m. workouts with getting toned up on the physical side for the upcoming season.

As far as individual recognitions during his time at Huntington Beach, Ralph won Sunset League MVP as a sophomore, while also making All-CIF in 2021 and 2022. 

His individual success goes way back to his childhood. Armando recalled when Ralph was 10-years old and had tried out for the 12U national team. At first, it was mostly just a litmus test of where Ralph was compared with the best 12-year olds in the country.

“He went to try out for the USA team just to see where he stood. We were in those big auditoriums, and they're calling out names,” Armando said. “It's a hard process, because if these kids don't get called, it's devastating to them. So we're sitting there, and I’m thinking, no big deal, I know that my kid's only 10. And the very last name, they called Raffaele Velazquez. My heart dropped."

Ralph went on to compete for the 12U national team in Pueblo, Mexico, and made the team once again the very next year.

With chatters of the draft in the air, Ralph is also signed on to play at ASU after this season. There are still questions about whether or not he’ll decide to start his pro career, with many scouts frequently coming out to see the talent for themselves. Ralph takes a simplified approach to handling the amount of eyes on him.

“Once you get better, and start going up levels, then it starts to get serious,” Velazquez said. "But right now, it's just a game to have fun. There's no reason you should be stressing over it, go out there, play loose and you'll be fine.”

It’s easy for a kid to get distracted by all the early success, but for Ralph, he’s adamant about putting his teammates first. As one of the senior captains, he’s put an emphasis on being a leader in the clubhouse.

One instance came just after the team’s trip to San Diego, where Medure thought the team had performed well overall.

“Recently he called me on the phone and was like, 'hey I want to meet with everybody and you don't have to be there. I'd rather just do it with us,’” Medure said.

Ralph sat down with other captains and seniors, broke down what it meant to be an Oiler and how they were going to approach the upcoming season.

"We sat down and talked about how we're so talented this year. I said, ‘it doesn't matter how talented you are. We all need to be pulling for each other if we're playing or not,’” Ralph said. “I just bought a ‘family’ sign and put it in the clubhouse, so everytime you walk out, you tap out. If we all pull for each other, love each other, there's no reason why we shouldn't win everything we get put into this year."

Ralph has also been a huge believer of camaraderie within the program, even with kids who are on the JV or freshman squads. If there were ever any hangouts amongst the team, he’d send an open invite to each and every kid in the Huntington program.

One example in particular is how he’s also taken a mentorship role. Specifically, he’s taken freshman CJ Weinstein under his wing. He hopes small actions like this will help guide the next batch of great Huntington Beach players to keep that tradition going.

“(CJ) is a really good ball player, he reminds me a lot of myself when I was a freshman. Really good hand-eye coordination, hits the ball hard. I invite him everywhere, I take him everywhere,” Ralph said. "He was stressing, so I told him, 'dude you're a freshman, have fun.' Because I felt the same way before. I told him, 'you're going to run this one day during your junior or senior year. You have to be the best you can be, so start now. Even though you're a freshman, if you see anything you don't like, talk to me and we can figure it out.’ I'm here for him.”

Medure says Ralph has taken leaps in the way he’s able to connect with the younger guys and it’s because of his desire to keep things that way even after his time at Huntington Beach is done. 

"He understands the mentorship and obligation in our program. It's your duty to leave the jersey better than you found it. He buys into that whole heartedly,” Medure said. "If your best player is your best leader, it's kind of hard to go wrong."

The future is bright for the big lefty, and it seems as if there’s nothing left to prove at the high school level. The numbers, the accolades and talks of being ready for pro ball all speak for themselves. But at this moment, Ralph’s focus continues to be putting what’s best for the team first, with his eyes set on bringing a CIF section championship back to Huntington Beach.