Speedster Ward was game changer for El Capitan this season

El Capitan High baseball coach Aaron Ruiz didn’t have to give much thought when it came to filling out the top of his order. Every game the same name was in the leadoff spot – Braiden Ward.

Can you blame him?

Ward hit .476 last season and also led the team with 25 runs and 30 stolen bases.

“It’s been great to have a kid who you can write their name in the lineup every time,” Ruiz said. “His name is almost inked in. He’s at the top of the lineup every game. He’s a kid that can spark your team and change the game with his speed.”

After helping lead the Gauchos to the Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs again, Ward repeats as the Sun-Star Baseball Player of the Year.

Ward compiled his impressive statistics this season despite injuring his wrist in February. He taped up his wrist and played through the pain this season. It wasn’t until after the season was over that Ward found out he had a fracture in his wrist.

“It wasn’t until a week after he hurt the wrist that he said something,” Ruiz said. “He said he was fine. He just taped it up. Then we find out after the season he had a slight fracture. It shows how tough he is to play through it and do so well.”

Ward’s speed makes his a game-changer.

As soon as he reaches base, which was over 53 percent of the time, he disrupted the game. Once Ward gets on, his attention turns to stealing the next base.

“Right away, immediately,” Ward said. “It still depends on a lot of factors. Is the catcher throwing good today. Is the pitcher throwing hard. Is he using a side-step. When I played Buhach they threw a lot of pitchouts.”

“Speed kills is the famous saying,” Ruiz said. “He definitely shows it’s true. He changes the mentality of the other pitcher. They have to be quicker to the plate when he’s on. He keeps them honest. You see a lot of pitchouts. He throws them off their rhythm.”

Even with Ward at the top of the lineup, the Gauchos hit stretches of the season where runs were hard to get. After a 4-0 start in the Central California Conference, El Capitan had to fight its way into the playoffs after a five-game losing streak.

It took big wins over Pitman and Merced late in the season to propel the Gauchos into the postseason.

“We had to fight,” Ward said. “Coming back from almost winning the blue banner to not making the playoffs wouldn’t have been a good thing for us. Each school is known for a sport. We want El Cap to be known as a baseball school. We had to live up to our reputation so we had to make the playoffs.”

It’s all that time he spent with his teammates trying to lay the foundation of the Gauchos baseball program that he’ll miss.

“Just making friendships,” Ward said. “You play so many games with the same guys. Especially our group because there was no varsity team when we got to El Cap. We all played junior varsity as freshmen. So we were all on the same team the whole time. We got to say we have everybody coming back next year.”

Next year a new chapter begins for Ward as he heads to the University of Washington to play baseball. He’s looking forward to the new challenges Division I baseball will bring.

“I’m really excited. I’m going to meet new friends, it’s a different school,” Ward said. “I’m playing a sport but it’s basically a job. I lot of kids get jobs while they are in college. They are paying me to help win the Pac-12 and get to Omaha. Whether that’s pinch-running all four years or starting.”

Ward is willing to do whatever it takes to get his name in the lineup again.

This story was originally published June 20, 2017 at 3:51 PM with the headline "Speedster Ward was game changer for El Capitan this season."