Ritter, Ron "Byrd"

Ron Byrd Ritter was a natural athlete from early age. He was the starting center of the state championship basketball team of 1966 and was a pitcher for the 1966 State Runner Up baseball team at Shelby County High School. He was also drafted to play Major League baseball by the Pittsburg Pirates.

Ron began playing fast pitch softball in the early 1960’s, but found a true love in slow pitch softball in the late 1960’s. In 1967, while playing with Jiffy Club, he was named to the All-World tournament team. in 1970, hometown sponsor, Omer McIntosh, put together a team of local players, and Ron led the team to the national tournament where they finished in 10th place. From 1970 through 1977, Ron’s teams placed no lower than third place in the state tournament.

He won several MVP and home run awards. For his career, Ron won over 600 games as a starting pitcher and hit over two thousand home runs. In leading the Scott County Merchants to the championship of the 1971 Smoky Mountain Classic, tournament director, Frank Bradley, announced that if they had picked a MVP, Ron would have definitely been the one.

This citation bears witness that his name shall forever be in the Kentucky Softball Association Hall of Fame.