Ralph DiVito graduated from Amesbury High School in 1958. He was a three-sport athlete. He participated in football, basketball and baseball. He earned 8 letters out of 9 during this time. In this era, you could only earn a maximum of 9 letters in these three sports. Ralph was a very good athlete on all three teams, but baseball was the sport that he excelled at and for which he is mostly remembered. Jon DiVito, son of Ralph, has been told by a number of individuals that his father was one of the best baseball players to ever come out of this area. Bert Spofford, a legendary historian on Amesbury High School baseball, has told Jon a number of times that his father was one of the best baseball players he had ever seen.
Ralph played football all 4 years and lettered his junior and senior years. Dave Lahait, fellow Hall inductee and teammate with Ralph, mentioned him as someone who influenced him in sports.
Ralph loved the atmosphere of sports, the football rallies on Fridays, the spirit and support of the student body, and beating Newburyport 6 -0 on Thanksgiving Day, his senior year. Anyone who is part of beating Newburyport on Thanksgiving is a hero in the eyes of Amesbury people.
In basketball Ralph played four years, lettering 3 years. His senior year he was Co- Captain and a Northeast Conference All-Star. One of Ralph’s highlights was scoring the winning basket in overtime against the first-place team Woburn in the Northeast Conference. This was quite an accomplishment because Amesbury was only fair in basketball during this period. His sophomore year he scored 24 points and junior year he scored 152 points. In Ralph’s senior year he missed 5 games due to injuries, but still managed to finish the season with 128 points.
Baseball was Ralph’s sport. He was outstanding in high school. A number of people say he even got better playing for the U.S. Air Force and then playing in the Northeast Baseball League where he was elected into their Hall of Fame. In a summary of 22 years of Baseball at AHS, the U.S. Air Force and the Northeast League, he was an All-Star 16 times and held the batting title 12 times.
Leo Dupere, former teammate and a former head baseball coach of Amesbury High School, says, “Ralph had a great arm and was an excellent hitter.” In Leo’s opinion he is the best 3rd basemen in the history of AHS. In Ralph’s 4 years in baseball, he earned 3 letters and was a Co-Captain his senior year. His junior year he was the team leader in RBI’s and hitting percentage with a .375 average. His senior year pitchers worked around him which was great for Leo Dupere, who batted in front of him. Ralph was a NEC All-Star in 1957 and 1958. In his senior year he was being scouted by the Boston Red Sox, Baltimore Orioles, Chicago Cubs, and Kansas City. He had a workout with the Boston Red Sox in Auburn, ME. The Houston Colt 45’s, now the Houston Astros, recruited him after graduation. In Leo Dupere’s opinion he is one of the top players to come out of AHS.
Congratulations to inductee Ralph DiVito, Class of 1958.
