Ryan was a four-year starter at UCF playing both catcher and first base.  He ended his career as a .300+ hitter and an all-time Top-10 performer in seven offensive categories. Through his leadership and competitive drive he served as “a coach on the field” for coaches Jay Bergman and Craig Cozart.  Defensively he only allowed eight passed balls in his career while throwing out nearly 40% of the base runners.  During his senior year he was nominated for the prestigious Johnny Bench Award, an award that goes to the nation’s top catcher.  He finished as one of the ten semi-finalists.  He is considered the “best overall catcher  in school history” by both the pitchers and coaching staffs.  Following college Ryan signed as a free agent with the Houston Astros, but decided to start a business rather than pursue baseball.

 

His career highlights include both power and finesse.  He had two game-winning walk-off home runs, one coming against 24th ranked Oklahoma State in the 2004 NCAA regional at Dick Howser Stadium at Florida State.  Against 8th ranked Clemson he executed a game-winning suicide squeeze bunt giving his twin brother, Kyle, a complete game pitching victory.

 

Ryan also earned an opportunity to play in the prestigious Cape Cod League in 2004 following his sophomore year.  Playing for the famous Chatham A’s was one of his most favorite baseball memories as he competed against the best players in the nation and where he threw out three runners in one inning. 

        

He prepped at Lake Mary High School where he lettered three years in baseball and two years in basketball.  He was coached by Allen Tuttle and named all state, all-conference and all county as a junior and senior.  He finished his prep career with a batting average of .395, hitting .462 as a senior where he led Lake Mary as the nation's fifth-ranked team according to Baseball America.  He was also an honor roll student at Lake Mary.  Ryan is married to wife, Chelsea Rozell Bono and has a daughter named Addison who plays softball and a son named Austin who plays baseball.