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Young Batter Keeps Eye On Contest, Real Life

Tribune photo by JIM REED

Jordon Ramus is a straight-A student who volunteers for Relay for Life, supporting his mom with her fight against breast cancer. He's also considered an emerging national prospect in baseball, according to Sports Illustrated Kids, which named him as a finalist for Sports Kid of the Year.

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By SHERRI ACKERMAN

The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 20, 2008

TAMPA - He's only 11, but Jordan Ramus might be destined for greatness - or at least the December cover of Sports Illustrated Kids.

The Liberty Middle School sixth-grader and standout athlete is one of 10 finalists for the magazine's 2008 Sports Kid of the Year Award, a distinction being decided, similarly to "American Idol," by thousands of voters nationwide.

The online polls for this round close at noon Monday, when four finalists with the least votes will be eliminated. Then two finalists per week will be dropped until a winner is selected in November.

Late Friday, Jordan was ranked No. 3, thanks to his parents - Chuck and Michelle Ramus - relatives, friends, classmates, teammates, neighbors, co-workers, the grocery clerk, the guy at the gas station and anyone within a 100-mile radius who had the fortune of running into a Jordan fan.

"He's a good kid," said his mother, who can back it with examples:

Jordan has been a straight-A student for five years. When Michelle Ramus was diagnosed with breast cancer, Jordan joined his mom for the Relay for Life fundraiser. He sticks up for other kids who might be less fortunate, and he genuinely cares about others.

Jordan is also a baseball phenomenon, boasts his dad, with 21 over-the-fence home runs last season with the Scorpion Baseball Academy, including three in a row in one game.

Convinced? Then go to www.SIKIDS.com/sportskid and cast your vote.

Reporter Sherri Ackerman can be reached at (813) 259-7144 or sackerman@tampatrib.com.

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