Clearwater Central Catholic Shortstop Plays Tall

Clearwater Central Catholic’s starting shortstop, Ryan Hallam, didn’t always want to play baseball. He didn’t even play shortstop when he started playing for the CCC baseball team. However, by his senior year, fate found just the right place for him.

Hallam is a lock-down shortstop but landing the job came late and unexcpetedly.

Most of the regular season, Hallam and teammate Benny Mendizabal played second base and shortstop, with Hallam at second. Mendizabal hurt his arm late in the regular season and Hallam took over at shortstop and Mendizabal moved over to second base to take stress off his throwing arm. Second base is a much shorter throw to first than shortstop, who sometimes will have to make throws from the left field grass.

So it turned out that this was just where Hallam would shine. In the four playoff games this year, the ones that really counted, Hallam did not commit a single error while helping CCC come up with a couple double plays in the regional quarterfinal against Avon Park.

Hallam was tough with the bat as well, during that stretch. He went five for eight at the plate, while batting ninth in the order. The whole bottom third of the lineup hit very well for CCC during their playoff run.

“Those guys understand that whatever we need, when they are up, they will have to get it done,” Marauder head coach Todd Vaughan said.

Hallam made a particularly spectacular play against Avon Park in the regional quarterfinal. In the fifth inning, Avon Park got the lead off runner on first base when the next batter came up and smacked a hot grounder over the second-base pad. It should have been a hit with a potential RBI but Hallam flew toward it and, “nailed it down” as Coach Vaughan put it and still got the force out at second base.

Hallam was not always a tough defensive infielder. He wasn’t even into baseball as a youth, growing up in St.Petersburg.

“I didn’t really like baseball when I was a kid. I liked soccer more,” said Hallam.

It wasn’t until Hallam went to a baseball camp at The University of Florida when he was 10 years old that he got bit by the baseball bug.

“The camp was a great experience. I came out of it with all kinds of new things I could work on to improve my hitting,” he said.

Hallam played in the Fossil Park Little League with some success after his UF camp.

He attended St.Pete Christian with future teammate Jeff Campbell. The St.Pete Saints were undefeated in Hallam’s seventh and eighth grade years. The irony was that Hallam and Campbell would switch off pitching and playing shortstop. Eventually, Campbell would hone into pitching and playing third base while Hallam backed out of pitching and moved to second base and shortstop.

By ninth grade, Hallam and his family had moved to the Clearwater area and Hallam made the CCC baseball team. He was primarily a second baseman his first three years. He started playing shortstop his senior year and was discovered as a talent at the position. This happened just in time for him to take Mendizabal’s spot in the wake of his injury.

While Hallam is not a scout’s dream as far as his physical attributes, he is tough-headed kid that has a very strong arm and can do damage with the bat.

He’d like to keep playing baseball, even if it means starting at a junior college and working his way up to a good university team.

Hallam always has admired the smaller, gritty infielders that made it in the big leagues.

Guys like Chase Utley and Dustin Pedroia.