Stevenson's Ruchim doesn't hesitate to pitch in

During a season in which Christians are contemplating the ultimate sacrifice, Kyle Ruchim is busy plotting and unleashing his own.

Skipping the upcoming prom to avoid any distractions during the stretch run of baseball season, and playing out of position for the good of his team may be small in comparison, but for Ruchim, they are sacrifices nonetheless.

"When it comes to baseball, I sacrifice a lot," Ruchim said.

Not that he's complaining, mind you. Quite the opposite, in fact.

For Ruchim, a senior shortstop at Stevenson who is widely recognized as one of the best infielders in the area, sacrificing for baseball is a no-brainer. It's the one way he figures he can continue to stay ahead of the curve, which is where he's used to being.

Ruchim has been on the fast track ever since his sophomore year, when he was starting in the infield for the Patriots. Then, before his junior year even began, he committed to play baseball in college at Northwestern.

Now, he is determined to help Stevenson do something never before accomplished by the baseball team.

Ruchim is fixated on a state title.

"The prom is the same weekend as some big games for us, so I'm thinking I probably won't go," Ruchim said. "I haven't been working and practicing hard for the last seven months to be distracted by a dance that doesn't really mean anything in the long run.

"I'm focused way more on baseball and the success of the team. I want to do everything I can to help us be successful."

And that includes sacrificing time at shortstop.

Ruchim has pitched some throughout his career, but he's primarily a shortstop. It's the position he will likely play the most at Northwestern.

"Kyle can make plays in the infield that other kids just won't even get to," Stevenson coach Paul Mazzuca said. "As coaches, we used to just look at each other in the dugout after he made a play and it was like, 'Oh my God.' But we're past that now because Kyle makes plays like that all the time. It's almost like nothing he does surprises us anymore.

"He's just a great athlete with everything you'd want: arm strength, foot speed, quickness, confidence, and he's a great leader, too. He's like another coach on the field. For a shortstop, he's got it all."

Heading into the season, Ruchim figured he'd be Stevenson's everyday shortstop, a scenario that would not only help the Patriots but would also help him tune up for his career at Northwestern.

But off-season injuries and other circumstances have wreaked havoc with Stevenson's pitching rotation.

The Patriots will play the season without the three players Mazzuca had tabbed as his top starters.

So Mazzuca turned to Ruchim.

"Ideally, you don't want your everyday shortstop pitching, and Kyle has been recruited as a shortstop, not a pitcher, so you know he probably wants to play in the infield," Mazzuca said. "But in light of our pitching situation, I really need Kyle and he stepped up right away. It was, 'No problem, coach. He said, 'I'm ready to do whatever you need.'

"What a godsend that is. He's our fort in the storm right now."

Ruchim started his first game on Wednesday and held Palatine to just 1 hit in going the distance in a five-inning, 11-0 victory.

"When you're going to play in college, you might start thinking about things like 'Oh, I don't want to get hurt,' or 'I don't want to (tire) my arm (by pitching too much),'" Ruchim said. "But I'm not going to do that. I'm not looking at where I'll be next year, I'm looking at where I'm am now and my ultimate goal right now is to help Stevenson win, to help Stevenson win a state championship.

"If I can help the team by pitching, then I will do that. I don't want to look back at high school and regret that I didn't do more."

Fat chance.

Ruchim, not surprisingly, also happens to be one of Stevenson's best hitters.

On the first pitch of his first at-bat this season, he clocked a home run.

"I told him right after that that the catcher should never catch the ball when he's at the plate this season," laughed Mazzuca, who is so fond of Ruchim that he has let Ruchim babysit his 6-year-old son Dominic. "From a hitting standpoint, Kyle's mechanics and fundamentals are so sound. He doesn't need a lot of tweaking."

Maybe that's because Ruchim, a relentless worker and perfecter, does the tweaking himself.

"Kyle has a tee in his basement so that he can work on his swing," friend and teammate Teddy Heiser said. "He is the hardest worker I know. He never takes a day off. He's always doing everything he can to make himself better."

Ruchim says he picked up a lot of good habits by going to baseball camps at Northwestern year after year when he was younger.

Always an A student, Ruchim knew that Northwestern would be a college he might be interested in when he got older. So he got to know the coaches and the program better and better with each summer.

"That's the best way to see if a school is for you," Ruchim said. "I really liked the program there and the coaches. It's awesome that I'm actually going to get to play there, but I'm trying not to think about that too much right now. It will come fast enough.

"I'm just hoping that I can go into Northwestern with something to be happy about. Like a state championship."

It would make all the sacrifices worth it.

pbabcock@dailyherald.com