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The Crosscutters’ Ramon Bramasco looks to extend stay in Williamsport

By Mitch Rupert 5 min read

Playing baseball has always been secondary to Ramon Bramasco. His goal when he left Cathedral High School in Los Angeles in 2015 was to earn a college degree. Nobody in his family had ever done that before and he earned an academic scholarship to pay for school.

So that was Bramasco's focus. When he enrolled at Grand Canyon University, his education was his primary goal, but while there, he figured he would try out for the baseball team. Bramasco, a shortstop, didn't make the team in part because they had six incoming freshman infielders. But the coach offered to get Bramasco set up with a junior college in Arizona.

Initially, Bramasco didn't bite on the idea. He figured he'd continue to attend school and try out for the team again the following year. But a talk with an old coach of his when he returned home from school made Bramasco see school would always be there for him, but there was a finite amount of time he would be able to play baseball.

So Bramasco changed his plans a bit. Baseball became a little more important to him and he put in the work to see what he could do. He went from junior college ball to the University of Washington, where he was a three-year starter, and now Bramasco is trying to extend his career with the Williamsport Crosscutters. He is one of 10 players who joined the Cutters following the All-Star break, and the California native is making the most of his opportunity.

Bramasco is hitting .500 in his first three games. He recorded three hits and was on base four times in Tuesday's loss to Trenton. He's hoping to play well enough to potentially get a free-agent offer to play professional baseball.

"I just want to get my name out there by doing things the right way," Bramasco said prior to Wednesday's game. "I think the degree I got is an accomplishment that is important to me. And hopefully I can go back to my community and teach them something. But I'm going to give this a shot as much as I can."

At 24 years old, Bramasco is one of the older players on the roster. He's out of college eligibility, so playing in the MLB Draft League is really his last opportunity to show he deserves an opportunity to play pro baseball. What he'll do after this is all done in about a month? Well, that's yet to be seen. His focus is squarely on playing baseball as well as he can.

The ride for Bramasco has been quite eventful for a guy who never really intended on playing college baseball. It wasn't until the talk with his former coach that he considered traveling the path to playing college baseball. He spent a season at Cerritos College before earning a spot on the team at the University of Washington. Over his three years in Seattle, he played in 111 games, starting all but one of them.

Bramasco was a career .275 hitter, including hitting .287 in 44 games this spring. As a player, he goes against what baseball has become in the modern day. He doesn't focus on lifting the ball and hitting home runs. He's your old school prototypical middle infielder. He makes hard contact. He uses his speed. And he's a smooth defender with range best measured with a globe.

Even as people have told him he needs to adjust his game to fit what baseball has become with three true outcomes - strikeout, walk and home run - Bramasco has stuck to his roots. Even in his short time with the Crosscutters that's what he's done. All six of his hits are singles. He's driven in three runs and he's taken three walks.

"I'm not necessarily worried about driving the ball over the fence, but I want to drive the ball and barrel up the ball," Bramasco said. "I want to continue to play baseball and play it how I was taught growing up. If I deviate from that, I don't think I have a chance to keep playing."

What Bramasco has brought to the Crosscutters is a more prototypical leadoff hitter as well. Rob Marinec has filled the role admirably, largely because of his attitude and willingness to work counts but also be aggressive. Among players who have played at least 20 games for the Cutters this season, Marinec's .277 average is second-best behind only Lance Logsdon.

The emergence of what Bramasco brings to the lineup will allow manager Billy Horton to move Marinec into more of a run-producing spot in the lineup. Bramasco will continue to get the chance to set the table for Williamsport, but Horton also said don't be surprised to see Marinec return to the leadoff spot at times.

"He's a guy who is a high-energy type player," Horton said following Tuesday's game. "We see the stuff he does and it creates energy in the ballpark. He's a guy who lets his game speak for itself. He's a guy who knows his role."

Bramasco earned an associate's degree in business and a bachelor's from Washington in education. Down the road he's considering work as a counselor or a teacher, or even a coach. He's even considering going back to graduate school. In some way he wants to give back to the game which has given him so much that he never expected.

But for now, he wants to make the most of this opportunity to play baseball. Who knows where that could take him?

"Getting my degree was humongous for me and my family. It's the biggest thing. It's what I wanted to do in the first place," Bramasco said. "Playing baseball on top of it has just been a blessing."

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