Buffalo Grove’s Ricciardi commits to Miami (Ohio)

There was a catch to the recruiting pitch Buffalo Grove senior catcher Tommy Ricciardi received from Miami University in Ohio.

The guy making the pitch, Miami head coach Dan Simonds, used to be a catcher at Davidson College and in the Orioles and Cubs organizations. Simonds was also the Cubs bullpen catcher from 1992-94.

So, that certainly didn’t hurt when Ricciardi decided to make the call Monday and make a verbal commitment to Simonds and the Redhawks.

“When I started talking to people at Miami of Ohio everyone said it was a great school to go to education-wise,” Ricciardi said after BG beat Prospect 10-9 in 8 innings Tuesday. “The facilities are absolutely unbelievable and the coach was a catcher also and he had a rocket arm. It seemed like a really good match.”

Miami’s interest in Ricciardi started when he went there for a camp in January. He also got some help in the process from former pro scout and local instructor Tom Barnard.

Ricciardi also had an offer from Southern Illinois and top-level junior college interest. He said he was guaranteed a spot on the Miami roster with the likelihood of getting scholarship money as a sophomore.

Miami is 31-22 for its fourth 30-win season under Simonds and is 17-7 in the Mid-American Conference.

“Their coach is doing a good job and I’m excited to play for him,” Ricciardi said.

Ricciardi was hitting .342 with 9 doubles and 29 RBI going into Tuesday’s game at Prospect. He plans to study some type of engineering and has a 4.6 grade-point average on a 5.0 scale.

“It’s always been my dream to play Division I and maybe get drafted,” Ricciardi said. “To play Division I ball at a very good college would be the ideal dream — to get a good education and play baseball at the same time.”