Bears catcher Bret Ralson signed with East Texas Baptist Univeristy Friday at the high school. Shown here are, front row, from left: Bret’s dad Brian, Bret, his mother Sherri, and his brother Blake. Back row, from left: Bears head coach Ty Thomison BHS athletic director John Settle and Joe Fleming (former BHS coach). Courtesy Photo After starting at catcher for the Bears baseball team for three years, senior Bret Ralson is taking the next step.

Ralson signed with the East Texas Baptist University Tigers on Friday.

ETBU head coach Sam Blackmon sang Ralson’s praises during a telephone interview Monday.

“I like his game,” Blackmon said. “As far as hitting, he’s a big-bodied guy with some pop in his bat. Defenisively, he works a good game. With his work habits, we can work to improve it further.”

Brownsboro head coach Ty Thomison said Ralson has been a staple in the starting lineup of the Bears.

“Bret has been very solid for us over the past three seasons,” Thomison said. “He has worked hard to improve his skills every year and has done a good job blocking balls and keeping runners from advancing into scoring position. It has been a good feeling knowing that we were solid behind the plate.”

And, he noted, the position he played for the Bears is key.

“The position of catcher is equal to the position of quarterback in football,” Thomison said. “The catcher has an impact on every pitch or play in baseball. It is always a very vital position to fill and it takes someone that you can trust to always be there mentally as well as physically. There are alot of guys that can catch, but not many are catchers. The position of catcher is a very demanding. It takes a certain kind of guy to fill the position consistently at a high level.

“Bret has done that for the Bears for the past three years and has done it very well.”

Coach Blackmon said it was those types of overall characteristics that made Ralson an attractive prospect for the ETBSU program.

“The things he brings off the field, we’re excited about,” Blackmon said. “At a small, Baptist college, you want goes who can handle it, both on and off the field.”

ETBU is a NCAA Division III college, competing in the East Division of the American Southwest Conference.

The conference, east and west divisions, are comprised of 15 total colleges. Along with ETBU, they include: Hardin-Simmons University, Howard Payne University, LeTourneau University, Louisiana College, Mary Hardin-Baylor, McMurray University, Concordia University, Mississippi College, University of the Ozarks, Schreiner University, University of Texas-Dallas, University of Texas-Tyler, and Texas Lutheran.