Rams' O'Rourke a most uncommon denominator
Most teenagers are sprinting for the doors after four years of high school.
Kevin O'Rourke dreams of a fifth year of eligibility.
Even after four years of playing football, four years of playing basketball and four years of playing baseball, the Grayslake Central senior still hasn't had enough of high school sports.
"I want one more year. I want one more year so bad," O'Rourke said Saturday after he pitched Grayslake Central to a 9-1 victory in the Class 3A third-place game at the state baseball tournament in Joliet. "Even though my legs are killing me and my back is starting to hurt, there's nothing better.
"I wish coach could have red-shirted me."
If it were possible, all three of O'Rourke's coaches this year would have sent in the paperwork long ago.
O'Rourke is one of those special athletes that doesn't come along very often. Not only does he play three sports - a rarity in itself these days - but he also excels at all three.
This year, he was a difference-maker in almost every game he played - at quarterback for the football team, as a gritty, hard-nosed starting forward for a basketball team that advanced to a sectional championship game and as a starting pitcher for a baseball team that made its first trip downstate in school history.
For his standout, round-the-clock efforts, O'Rourke has been named the Daily Herald's Lake County male athlete of the year.
"He's been front and center in all three sports. He's very deserving of the athlete of the year award," Grayslake Central baseball coach Troy Whalen said of O'Rourke. "He's a gifted athlete, he keeps himself in good shape. And what I like (about three-sport athletes) is that the pilot light is always turned on. They're always focused because they're always competing."
Three-sport athletes are also always on the go.
From football to basketball to baseball they go, with hardly a day in between. Summers are even crazier, with camps and workouts for all three sports sometimes occurring on the same day.
"He must manage his time great to be the starting quarterback, a starting pitcher and a key player with the basketball team. That's tough to do," said Grayslake Central shortstop Kurt Schmidt, who has been playing team sports with O'Rourke since fifth grade. "I have a hard enough time with just baseball. I can't even imagine what he goes through."
It's been a juggling act, for sure. Sometimes O'Rourke didn't know if he was coming or going. But he can't imagine his life any other way.
"It's crazy and I thought about specializing in baseball because I knew that was going to be my main sport," O'Rourke said. "But I talked to my mom (Kathy) and she told me to give it a try for one year. All of a sudden I fell in love with all three sports and couldn't choose."
O'Rourke is glad he never could. Otherwise he would have missed out on some great moments this year.
The football team struggled last fall, but a win over crosstown rival Grayslake North was just the right medicine.
"I'll always remember that," said O'Rourke, who scored 12 touchdowns and rolled up 1,000 yards last fall. "It was 21-21 at half and we went on a 14-0 run in the second half to win 35-21. That was amazing."
Also amazing was Grayslake Central's run through the state basketball tournament. The Rams advanced to the sectional championship game for the first time in school history.
O'Rourke averaged about 9 points and was known as the team's defensive stopper.
"Kevin is the guy who does the grunt work for our team, he's the guy who does the dirty work," Grayslake Central basketball coach Brian Moe said last winter. "You need those kind of guys. They're the ones who determine how far your team goes."
So maybe it's not a coincidence that both the basketball team and the baseball team went far this year. They shared a common denominator: O'Rourke.
"There's nothing to be more proud of than (team successes)," said O'Rourke, who was the Rams' No. 2 pitcher this season. He finished with a 4-5 record, rolled up 62 strikeouts in 682/3 innings and got two of his biggest wins in key games, the third-place game against LaSalle-Peru and the sectional final against Johnsburg in which he pitched a shutout.
"I just can't believe it's all over now. I've had so much much."
Well, it's not totally over.
O'Rourke might not be a three-sport star in high school anymore. But he will still play baseball. He earned a full-ride scholarship to St. Mary's of Texas, a Division II powerhouse.
"I'm ready to move on to bigger and better things," O'Rourke said. "But I still would love to have some of my high school years back. The time went by way too fast."