Four years ago, someone donated a red baseball bat as part of a youth sports equipment drive to a Catholic church.

The church janitor, who couldn’t afford to buy baseball gear for his son, grabbed the red bat and presented it to his 9-year-old. The boy had never played on a baseball team.

Today, that boy, Bryan Ramirez, is in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, as part of the Santa Margarita all-stars, one of eight teams representing the United States in the annual Little League World Series. Church janitor Tony Ramirez and his wife Laura, who paid for the trip with the motto “Credit card and pray,” are planning to stay for eight days in a hotel about 30 miles from the ballpark.

Tony Ramirez poses with one of his son’s bats at a baseball field a few blocks away from his home in Rancho Santa Margarita. His son, Bryan is playing in the Little League World Series. (Photo by Bill Alkofer, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Santa Margarita’s Bryan Ramirez at bat against Utah in the championship game of the West Regional Little League Baseball Championships in San Bernardino, CA on Saturday, August 12, 2017. (Photo by Bill Alkofer, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Sound The gallery will resume in seconds

Laura and Tony Ramirez pose with his son’s first baseball glove at their home in Rancho Santa Margarita. Their son, Bryan, is playing in the Little League World Series. (Photo by Bill Alkofer, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Tony Ramirez poses in the dugout of a baseball field near his home in Rancho Santa Margarita. His son, Bryan Ramirez, is playing in the Little League World Series. (Photo by Bill Alkofer, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Tony Ramirez gets ready to take off for Williamsport, Pennsylvania to watch his son Bryan play in the Little League World Series. (Photo by Bill Alkofer, Orange County Register/SCNG)



Santa Margarita’s Bryan Ramirez, right, congratulates teammate Drew Rutter after Rutter hit a home run in the championship game of the West Regional Little League Baseball Championships in San Bernardino, CA on Saturday, August 12, 2017. (Photo by Bill Alkofer, Orange County Register/SCNG

Santa Margarita’s Bryan Ramirez, right, celebrates Santa Margarita’s victory over Utah in the championship game of the West Regional Little League Baseball Championships in San Bernardino, CA on Saturday, August 12, 2017. (Photo by Bill Alkofer, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Santa Margarita’s Bryan Ramirez, right, congratulates teammate Drew Rutter after Rutter hit a home run in the championship game of the West Regional Little League Baseball Championships in San Bernardino, CA on Saturday, August 12, 2017. (Photo by Bill Alkofer, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Bryan Ramirez greets teammate Bobby Gray after Gray crossed home plate for a run during Santa Margarita’s game against Hawaii in the semifinals of the Little League Baseball West Regional Tournament (Photo by Bill Alkofer, Orange County Register/SCNG)

They are beyond excited to be there to see their son, who flew to Williamsport last Sunday with his team. They haven’t talked to him much because they can’t afford to give him a cell phone.

Imagine that, a kid without a cell phone.

“I am so proud,” Tony said through his 21-year-old daughter Briana, who served as his interpreter.

To add just a bit of context, competitive Little League baseball can be a most expensive proposition for any family. The best bats can cost more than $300. The top glove can run $200. Then there are cleats, helmets and batting gloves.

This doesn’t take into account the personal coaches common in the youth game. Who gets to the upper levels of kid baseball without pitching coaches, catching coaches, hitting coaches and conditioning coaches, who can charge more than $40 per half hour?

Answer: The Ramirez family.

What you need to know about the Ramirez family is that the journey to Williamsport didn’t start with that red baseball bat. That donation certainly helped, and just wait until you read about what happened to that bat.

Their journey started in Nayarit, a state on the west coast of Mexico, between Mazatlan and Puerto Vallarta. That’s where Tony Ramirez, one of 11 children, first played baseball on a field that was more dirt than grass, more holes than flat ground. That’s where Laura, a small girl who loved to play basketball, grew up.

When Tony was a teenager, he heard about a place almost 3,000 miles north in California where he could make a good living: Stockton. He left Mexico on a bus.

“I had the American dream,” Tony said.

In the early 1990s, Tony became a migrant worker, picking grapes in the fields of Stockton. On Saturdays, he washed tractors for extra pay.

His myriad jobs took him south. He worked in a sheet metal factory and as a hay baler.

“It was really hard,” Tony said. “I had to do it on my own.” The most difficult part of coming to America, the Ramirez family agreed, was leaving relatives behind in Mexico.

Tony was in a restaurant in Long Beach when a friend of a friend introduced him to Laura, who was on vacation from Nayarit. They hit it off instantly. He laughed when he said he proposed to her over the phone.

Tony and Laura Ramirez were married Aug. 28, 1992.

The Ramirezes moved back and forth from Southern California to Nayarit. One daughter, Andrea, was born in Santa Clara. Another, Briana, was born in Nayarit. Both are now in college. Andrea, 24, is studying sociology at Saddleback College. Briana, 21, is studying business at UC Riverside.

Tony Ramirez officially became a U.S. citizen in Long Beach in 2003. The best part about it?

“I passed,” he said.

Related Articles Meet the Santa Margarita Little League World Series All-Stars

Little League World Series 2017 schedule, scores

Little League World Series leaves Santa Margarita league parents scrambling for airfare, hotels When Tony became an American, he flew to Mexico to gather up his family and bring them back.

Tony got a job at the San Francisco Solano Catholic Church in Rancho Santa Margarita. He cleans the carpet, waxes the floors, washes the windows and changes florescent lights. Tony has worked there for 15 years.

Bryan was born in Mission Viejo. As a young child, he loved soccer and was very good. He was so quick and controlled the ball well. He played forward and scored a lot of goals.

Then his father gave him that donated red bat.

Bryan told his parents he fell immediately in love with the New York Yankees and their shortstop Derek Jeter. He told his parents he wants to go to college in New York so he can go to Yankee games.

He learned the pitching motion and how to throw a curve ball by watching YouTube videos.

He had barely played baseball when he was drafted by his first coach, Dan Lawler. Since then, Bryan has made the all-star team each year he has played baseball. On this year’s Santa Margarita team, he’s not a starter. He has entered some of the games as a late-inning pinch runner.

His father is always yelling “Vamos Bryan” from the stands.

“In terms of finding a diamond in the rough, Bryan is the Hope Diamond,” Lawler said. “One of the hardest working kids I’ve ever coached. Love that kid.”

When you meet his parents, Bryan’s work ethic is no surprise.

Laura Ramirez was as determined as her husband to become an American.

She challenged herself this way. She was going to fill out every form and answer every question in English, which she had difficulty speaking, without any help.

And in 2012, she passed.

“I cried,” she said.

She was a stay-at-home mom until recently when the money got tight. So she took a part-time job stocking shelves at Ralph’s supermarket.

Before every game, she has the same message for her son.

“You’re not always going to win,” she tells him in Spanish. Of course, in this all-star season, her reminder hasn’t been true. Her son’s team has played 15 games and never lost.

The Ramirez family lives in a two-bedroom apartment in Rancho Santa Margarita. They painted a poster congratulating Bryan for making the all-star team. That poster hangs in the small living room.

And that red bat? The one that launched his baseball life?

For his last few birthdays, Bryan has saved money that he has received as gifts. He bought his own bat.

Tony Ramirez took the red bat to Nayarit and donated it to a kid learning how to play.