LAURINBURG — “Don’t give up on me cause I won’t give up on you.”
That’s what Area Stars travel softball head coach Robert Ramos has always preached to his ‘star’ outfielder Daliyah Ratliffe, who signed with the Southeastern Community College (SCC) Rams during a ceremony held at Scotland High School Tuesday morning.
Ratliffe has been a member of the Area Stars for the last six years and has been a key player under Ramos.
Ramos broke down Ratliffe’s play with the Area Stars.
“Daliyah’s always been my lead-off batter,” Ramos said. “She plays the outfield (but) I think she enjoys center field a little more. Daliyah has tremendous speed on the base path. She’s respectful, she’s willing to learn, and she works hard. A coach can’t ask for a better player.”
Although stats aren’t officially recorded by the Area Stars, Ramos gave a breakdown of what she ‘roughly’ averages.
“Just guessing, she’s probably .725 (batting average); that’s why she’s our lead off,” Ramos said. “As far as errors go, I haven’t seen her make errors in years to be honest; she’s probably near-perfect. She is a triple threat; she can hit, bunt, and slap. And, her and another girl probably lead bases stolen. I don’t wanna say she’s number one at bases stolen; she’s probably number two.”
Ratliffe was joined by family, friends, Ramos, and Rams assistant softball coach Steven Welsh when she placed ink to paper with her national letter of intent.
Welsh discussed what led SCC to recruit Ratliff.
“We are excited to have Daliyah,” Welsh said. “She’s what we call in the college world a ‘good get.’ She’s a great teammate, her speed and athleticism drew me here, and we’re just super excited to get an athlete of this caliber.”
Ratliffe could only reiterate Welsh when asked what the Rams are getting as a player in the near future.
“They’re getting a good outfielder, that’s all I can say,” Ratliffe said.
Ratliffe will continue a trend of Scotland County softball athletes playing at SCC. Rachel Brown, who’s a senior utility for the Rams, is the only current player on the SCC roster from Laurinburg. Brown attended Scotland Christian Academy.
Ratliffe attends Scotland High School, but is not a member of the Lady Scots softball team.