A lead-off hitter, Rick hit line drives with
adequate power and used the whole field to forge a lifetime batting average was
.615 and more than 350
home runs. Competing
for The Lantern, a USSSA Class A team back when there was not an AA or Major
program, Rick played the outfield alongside two other Illinois USSSA Hall of
Famers, Terry
Mueller and Tom Spahn. They
won the USSSA Class A state title in 1976.
Speed was his trademark -in his career he scored from second base on a
fly ball 25 times.
A two-time member of the USSSA Class A All-State
team, he was named to the All-Tournament team at a USSSA sanctioned event seven
times. In 1971 the Lantern, a team
made up entirely of players from the then small town of Naperville, finished
fifth at the USSSA Class A World Tournament.
Rick also played professional softball in the early 1980s with the
Chicago Storm.
