Power surge elevates Royster.

Byline: Bob Rodman The Register-Guard

It has been more than three years since Ryan Royster signed with major league baseball's Tampa Bay Devil Rays, essentially erasing the signature he had put on a letter-of-intent to play for Oregon State.

Since that time, the Beavers have competed in three NCAA College World Series and won the last two.

Royster, a former Churchill High School star, is impressed, even said it "really would have been something" to be a part of OSU's ascent to the top of college baseball.

"But I have no regrets," he said. "None."

For good reason.

The 6-foot-2, 210-pound left fielder for Columbus (Ga.) of the Class A long season South Atlantic League is "closer to my dreams and goals than ever before."

As of Wednesday, Royster had a league-high 25 home runs, a slugging percentage of .581, ranked second with 88 runs batted in, and tied for third with a .325 batting average.

On Monday, Royster was named the league's offensive player of the week for his .440 average, six homers and 13 RBIs.

"Things are going well right now," Royster said, "and we're in a playoff chase, too."

The Catfish are marching toward the Southern Division playoffs, ranking third with a 71-48 record.

"I know I'm at a crossroads now," said Royster, who drew the attention of professional baseball scouts when he had a .538 batting average with 12 homers and 44 RBI while helping lead Churchill to the 2004 Midwestern League title.

All that after slugging a team-record 23 homers during the 2003 American Legion summer season.

Torn between playing for Oregon State and embarking on a pro career, Tampa Bay scout Paul Kirsch, who played at the University of Oregon, was the son of the late UO coach Don Kirsch, and managed the Eugene Emeralds from 1988-90, signed Royster.

"I had all the intentions in the world of playing for Oregon State," Royster said.

But after the Devil Rays selected Royster in the sixth round of the 2004 amateur draft, the now-21-year-old opted to begin his professional career and was off to Tampa Bay's rookie-league team at Princeton, W.Va., of the Appalachian League.

Last year, Royster played for the Hudson Valley Renegades of the Class A New York-Penn League.

At Princeton, he finished the season with a .247 batting average, eight homers, 29 runs batted in and a slugging percentage of .424. At Hudson Valley, his power increased a bit with 12 home runs and 37 RBI but the average slipped to .246, the slugging percentage to .481.

"I had a lot of growing up to do, on the field and as a human being," Royster said. "I had a lot of maturing to do."

He seems to have done it.

"When you look at his numbers and that he is in the league's top 10 of virtually every offensive category, you realize Ryan has learned," said Jim Morrison, the Hudson Valley manager.

"It has been a breakthrough year," Royster said, "and the difference this season is that, after three years as a pro, I have figured it out.

"The game is not all brawn. You survive by your wits. You cut down on your mistakes. You learn what to do as a hitter, as a defender and what to do with the ball when you get it. I have no feeling of uncertainty.

"It is time for me to take what I have learned and branch out ... take my game to the next level."

His season has been launched with the long ball. Royster's 25-home run barrage included a streak of six straight games with a homer, a surge that ended on Sunday.

"His bat and the power he has shown are huge," Morrison said. "This is going to be a year he can build on. It doesn't get easier as you go up the (farm system) ladder but he certainly is going to have his chance.

"Ryan is an average runner but he has worked hard at the fundamentals, at strengthening his arm and he plays hard every day he's in the lineup. He gives everything he has and that is a powerful trait."

Royster is nearing the end of his third season as a professional. What now?

"I really have no control over that," he said. "As a player, you go out and play. You could always be traded but you're out there playing for the name on the back of the uniform."

B a s e b a l l

CAPTION(S):

Ryan Royster has enjoyed a breakout season with the Columbus Catfish of the Class A South Atlantic League, batting .325 with 88 RBI in his third year as a pro with Tampa Bay.