Newcomer makes impact on Eagles’ baseball

This archived article was written by: Jarod Lessar

Ryan Curtis is a transfer who came after his first semester and joined the Eagles squad. Ryan is an outfielder with tremendous speed, which is one of the positions the eagles were lacking going into the season. Curtis worked hard in the few weeks he was at Eastern and was ready to be back competing on the field.
A natural competitor he earned a start in the Eagles first game and batted leadoff in the first game. He made an impact right away, from hitting triples and doubles, to chasing fly ball and making plays defensively.
“Being a newcomer, I just wanted to go out and play hard and help the team in any way,” Cutis said. He even dove for a ball into the fence in the final game then suffered a concussion. That’s just the type of player he is.
Ryan went to Bountiful High where he played basketball, football and baseball. Curtis led his team to a State Championship his senior year en route to winning the class 4A MVP.
After high school, Curtis served an LDS Mission in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. “In my two years, I had tremendous experience and learned more about myself in those two years than the eighteen before.”
After his mission, Curtis received a scholarship to play football at Dixie State. He only spent a few weeks in St. George before realizing just wasn’t for him and returned home. He spent a year going to school at Weber State and working for a freight logistics company.
After working while taking a year off from sports, Curtis longed to be back out on the field again. He decided to transfer to UVU and try out for their baseball team. After his tryout Coach Madsen told him he should start at junior college and knew right where he could start.
Coach Madsen called his younger brother Scott, who is the head coach of USUE, and told him about the type of player Ryan is and Scott welcomed him with open arms. “I was excited and nervous to get down there and to get back out on the field and do something I love to do,” Curtis said.
Curtis is excited for what this season has to offer and says he really enjoys Price. Curtis is currently trying to get his degree in sports medicine so he can help other athletes in his future. “I’ve loved and played sports my whole life, so I don’t want to go to far away once I can’t suit up anymore.”