50-for-50: Ritch Price, Baseball 1974-76
In 2021 LB celebrates the 50-year anniversary of its athletics program. Beginning in January, we will highlight people, teams and moments from the past five decades of Roadrunner Athletics. You can nominate a former athlete, coach, team, suppter or memorable moment from LB Athletics using this form.
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The Early Years: 1969-1979
Ritch Price, Baseball 1974-76
Ritch Price was a baseball player at Linn-Benton during the 1975 and 1976 seasons. Price, an infielder from Sweet Home, helped lead the Roadrunners to back-to-back Oregon Community College Athletic Association (OCCAA) championships in 1975 and 1976, and earned 1st Team all-Conference honors each season.
After LB Price went on to play at Willamette University, graduating in 1978. He began his coaching career at Southern Oregon's Phoenix High School and went on to coach at three California Community Colleges (American River, Menlo, De Anza).
Price took over as head coach at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo for the 1995 season, which was to be the Mustangs first at the Division I level. In his second season, he led the team to a 30–23 winning record. Price remained at Cal-Poly through the 2002 season compiling a 217–228–1 record.
Price accepted the head coaching position at Kansas after the 2002 season and has since led the Jayhawks to two NCAA Tournament berths along with their first Big 12 Conference Baseball Tournament title in 2006. Kansas had made only two NCAA appearances prior to Price's arrival. He became the winningest coach in KU baseball history (439 wins) on March 4, 2017 with an 11-7 victory over Northwestern State.
Additional bio: https://kuathletics.com/coach/ritch-price/
Price was inducted into the NWAC Hall of Fame in 1996.
