At James Logan High School in Union City, Ruiz played for the Colts under the direction of head coach John Goulding. In his senior year, Ruiz batted .464 on the way to being voted team MVP and NCS Player of the Year. That season, the Colts advanced to the NCS championship, where they lost 4-3. We played our hearts out. Ruiz said that the Logan team is nationally ranked year after year.
Union City has a great tradition.
Ruiz was also being recruited by a community college in Florida. The time and effort spent recruiting Ruiz to become a Spartan paid off right away his freshman year. The business administration major was named co-freshman of the year in the WAC and was voted the Spartans' outstanding offensive player of the year. He batted .354, pounded out 74 hits, scored 45 runs and drew 32 walks, all team highs. He also hustled his way to nine steals in 11 attempts.