King, Stevenson rule the day at Barrington

It took only a split second to hit, but as far as Erick King was concerned, his home run on Wednesday was an entire year in the making.

The Stevenson right fielder struggled at the plate last year during Stevenson's run to the sectional championship game at Barrington. In fact, he didn't get a single hit during the entire postseason.

He vowed not to let that happen again, and so far, he's done a complete turnaround.

King has been one of Stevenson's hottest hitters lately and that continued against Mundelein in the semifinals of the Class 4A Barrington sectional.

King ripped a 3-run home run over the left-field fence in the first inning, giving top-seeded Stevenson an early lead that would never be challenged in an 8-1 victory over the No. 4 Mustangs.

With the win, the Patriots, who were up 7-0 after just two innings, move to 32-3 on the season and advance into Saturday's 11 a.m. sectional championship at Barrington against the winner of today's other semifinal (4:15 p.m.) between No. 2 Warren and No. 3 Carmel.

Mundelein closes out the season with a 25-11 record.

"I'm glad I'm doing well so far because last year at this time I really was doing horrible," King said. "I didn't play like I wanted to. I was disappointed.

"But I'm more mature this year. And I've been focusing more on my hitting. And it's paid off."

King also was money in the outfield for the Patriots.

With two Mundelein runners on base with no outs in the sixth inning, Colin Franklin sent a shot into right field that looked as if it were going to drop right in front of a charging King.

But King sped up, dove forward for the ball and made a spectacular, sliding catch. Mundelein, which eventually got another runner on to load the bases, failed to score in the inning.

"Erick used to be a really good athlete who just happened to play baseball," Stevenson coach Paul Mazzuca said. "Now, he's developed into a really nice baseball player who has actually been carrying us lately.

"He's worked at it, though. He's been on a mission since last year. He was real dejected after the way he played. He felt that we could have gone further (in the tournament) if he had done more. He felt he let the team down."

Not only did King lift up the Patriots this time around, so did Kyle Ruchim, who started on the mound.

Ruchim went six full innings, allowing only 4 hits and 3 walks. The victory moves him to 5-2 on the season.

"I felt pretty good," Ruchim said. "I judge my success by walks and I had three today so that was a little upsetting, but other than that, it was pretty good.

"But the biggest thing is the way our offense (puts runs on the board). Anyone can pitch lights out with a big lead like that."

Stevenson struck fast in the first inning when three of its first four batters got on base. Patrick Wilson's single drove in the first run of the game.

That left two runners on base for King. His home run gave the Patriots a 4-0 lead right out of the gates.

Stevenson then added to that in the very next inning when Kory Cutler drove in 2 runs with a single and Wilson brought in another with a double.

By the end of the second, Stevenson had rolled up 7 runs on 7 hits.

Meanwhile, Ruchim held Mundelein scoreless and to only 2 hits through the first four innings. The Mustangs finally got on the board in the fifth when Tyler Adams drove in a run.

"Stevenson is very good," Mundelein coach Todd Parola said. "When they jump out early like that and then you have to go against a pitcher like Ruchim, you know you have your work cut out for you.

"Our goal was just to keep it close until the last few innings and then see what happens. But obviously it didn't work out that way."

But relief pitcher Dante Martinez sure did work out for the Mustangs.

He replaced starter Ben Mahar in the second inning and held the Patriots to just 1 hit until he was pulled in favor of a right-handed pitcher with 2 outs in the bottom of the sixth.

Martinez, a lefty who loved facing Stevenson's lefty-heavy lineup, rolled up 5 strikeouts and allowed just 1 walk.

"I was just hitting my spots with my fastball and with the lefties I was coming in with my slider and they seemed not to be hitting it," Martinez said. "Lefties love to go against lefties. I can work in all three of my pitches and that really helps. Just throwing strikes was also the key to everything.

"It's just too bad we couldn't take the sectional. But it's always hard to come back when you're losing by four runs in the first inning. You could tell we were deflated. It's hard to get the momentum back."