Blanton chooses Madison

Blanton chooses Madison: Richmond-Burton senior Ryne Blanton, a shortstop-pitcher, has committed to play baseball next year at Madison Area Technical College in Wisconsin. The Wolfpack was fifth in the NJCAA Division II World Series last year.

Blanton will be a third-year varsity player this spring for the Rockets. Last season, he was 9-3 with a 1.62 ERA, 79 strikeouts and 12 walks in 69 1/3 innings. He also hit .327 with one home run and 29 RBIs as the Rockets advanced to the Class 2A Augustana Supersectional, where they lost to Rock Island Alleman.

“I wasn’t getting a lot of [NCAA] D-I looks, so I decided I can go here and after two years, I hope I can go somewhere big,” Blanton said.

Blanton used to see himself as a position player and hitter at the next level, but that changed in the past year. After his outstanding season as a pitcher with R-B, he continued throwing well for Pro Player Consultants and the Racine Hitters, his two summer teams.

“I slumped a little bit with hitting, and I had a good summer pitching,” Blanton said. “I’m going to keep on working on pitching more.”

• Joe Stevenson is a senior sports writer for the Northwest Herald. He can be reached by email at joestevenson@shawmedia.com. You also can follow him on Twitter @nwh_JoePrepZone. (NWHerald 1/5/12)