Diamond Ranch's Rouric Bridgewater a Likely Pick for Major League Baseball

No doubt, Rouric Bridgewater was frustrated. He was pressing at the plate and he knew it.

Perhaps it was just the weight of being “Rouric Bridgewater” – the guy that rarely missed, hitting darn near .600 last year with 12 home runs. The guy from Diamond Ranch High that other teams whisper about during pregame warmups. The guy that’s going to Arizona State, unless a major league team lures him away.

But whatever it was, he was feeling it. And his coach knew it.

“What’s your name?” Panthers coach Dave Francis asked as Bridgewater stood near the plate, watching the pitcher warm up before the inning started in a scrimmage against Covina.

“What? You know my name,” Bridgewater said, distracted.

“Yeah. I think the other team knows your name too. Make the pitcher do his job.”

And with that, Bridgewater smirked and did what he does best. Hit.

“I told him, ‘You can’t hide anymore. Everyone knows who you are now,’ “ Francis said.

A senior infielder, Bridgewater is considered one of the top high school baseball players in Southern California. His breakout junior year saw the Panthers All-CIF third baseman hit .587 with 12 home runs and 41 RBI.

He’s made every list of top prospects since then, and at times, the attention can get overwhelming. He committed to Arizona State in the fall but it does not preclude him from going high in the MLB Amateur Draft in June.

As he matures in the sport, Francis said Bridgewater has become more than just an instinctive hitter. He now thinks situationally, and it has made him even more dangerous to opposing pitchers. Francis said the 6-foot-2, 205-pound senior has become very disciplined at the plate and adapts much better to the count.

“I remember that conversation,” Bridgewater said, chuckling. “Baseball is 75 percent mental. The main point he wanted me to know is that they know who you are and they’re going to pitch more carefully. Learn how to take the walk.”

“I have coach Francis and my dad Steve to thank. They have molded me in the player I am today.”

Situational hitting has become a big topic for them, and Francis also credits Bridgewater’s dad, Steve, himself a top high school hitter and a two-time CIF champion that played on scholarship at Loyola Marymount in the late 1970’s.

“It’s about making him think,” Francis said. “What are we going to do on two strikes? If he’s giving you an outside pitch, let’s take it to left. He didn’t understand that as a sophomore.”

Natural ability aside, Bridgewater is a hard worker, and tends to spend a good part of his weekend in the batting cages at Diamond Ranch. Francis said he never minds driving over to the school on a Saturday to open up the cages.

“He worked really hard last year, discipline-wise,” Francis said. “We kind of worked on being able to hit it to all three fields. He’s our No. 3 hitter and he has to have patience. He knows they’re not just going to throw him a fastball. I told him, ‘They want you to fall behind, so you have to hit their pitch now.’ “

As for the future, Bridgewater refuses to think much past Diamond Ranch’s next game. But he knows he may have to decide whether to play for the Sun Devils or play professionally after graduation. Either way, he wins, he said.

“Whatever happens at the end of the year will happen,” Bridgewater said. “I’ll sit down and talk to my family and we’ll see what's right for me.”