The 6-foot-2, 195-pound senior shortstop batted .410 with seven home runs and 28 RBI this past season, leading the Pioneers (27-10) to the Class 6A regional championship game. Ranked as the nation's No. 34 recruit in the Class of 2017 by Perfect Game, Vilade won the 2016 home run derby at the Under Armour All-American Game at Wrigley Field last summer and helped the USA Baseball 18U National Team win a gold medal while playing in Mexico. He compiled a.778 slugging percentage in his final prep campaign.
Vilade has maintained a 3.94 GPA in the classroom. He has signed a National Letter of Intent to play baseball on scholarship at Oklahoma State University this fall, but is projected as an early round selection in June's Major League Baseball draft.
A member of the National Honor Society, Vilade has volunteered locally on behalf of the Special Olympics, Frisco Family Services and as a youth baseball coach. "Ryan Vilade knows the game inside and out and how to play it the right way," said Glenn Cecchini, head coach of the USA Baseball 18U National Team. "He is an outstanding talented player and a gamer with a blue-collar work ethic. He personifies what championship teams are made of."
