Stevenson grad Ruchim making big impact at Northwestern

Kyle Ruchim was an all-conference player for Stevenson High School.

Now he has earned those honors in college.

The Northwestern junior outfielder was named to the All-Big Ten third team.

The Buffalo Grove native concluded the season ranked among the Big Ten leaders in several offensive categories. He finished in a three-way tie for second with 16 doubles, a league-leading 10 during conference play.

The 2010 Daily Herald Lake County all-area honorary captain also ranked fourth among all hitters in batting average (.365), slugging percentage (.533) and on-base percentage (.441).

Ruchim paced the Wildcats with 61 hits, of which 21 went for extra bases.

The first-time All-Big Ten honoree led Northwestern with 89 total bases, ranked second with 10 stolen bases and third on the club with 26 RBI. The junior recorded 18 multihit games to lead the squad and he ripped off two separate 12-game hitting streaks during the season, including an active one to end the year. Ruchim hit safely in 34 of the 42 games he played this season and posted 3-or-more hits in seven of those contests.

He also served a true utility role, contributing 34 innings in 16 appearances out of the bullpen. The right-handed closer led the Wildcats with 3 saves and ranked second on the team with 4 wins.

Ruchim was the pitcher of record during memorable extra-inning wins over North Dakota State, Iowa, Illinois and Michigan. In his outing against the Illini on April 26, he worked a career-high 5 innings and struck out a personal-best eight hitters.

ŸAugustana senior second baseman Kurt Schmidt (Grayslake Central) has been named to D3baseball.com’s All-Central region first team.

Schmidt played a key role in the Vikings’ 34-11 season, which included a CCIW tournament championship and the program’s fourth NCAA tournament appearance. He as also a first-team All-CCIW selection this year.

Schmidt hit .366 and led the team in doubles (tied with 12), home runs (tied with two), RBI (42), total bases (84), slugging (.480), hit-by-pitch (tied with 10) and stolen bases (15). His batting average was second on the club, as were his 175 at-bats, 38 runs, 64 hits and .418 on-base percentage. He finished his career ranked sixth or better all-time in seven offensive categories at Augustana.

His 156 runs are second in school history. He’s third in at-bats (624) and stolen bases (tied with 50), fourth in hits (218) and triples (tied with 10), fifth in doubles (tied with 37) and sixth in RBI (119).

ŸBenedictine University sophomore outfielder Tim Hendricks (Carmel) was named a D3baseball.com 2013 second-team All-American.

Hendricks, who was named the Northern Athletics Conference position player of the year, finished the season with a team high .422 batting average. He also collected 78 hits, 19 doubles, 3 triples, 4 home runs, 30 RBI and 18 steals.

He earned NAC first-team honors and was named first-team all-region.

Hendricks helped the Eagles (32-12) match a school record for wins this season.

Benedictine earned an at-large bid to the 2013 NCAA Division III championships, where they faced the top two seeds in the Wisconsin-Whitewater Midwest regional, falling in extra innings to eventual champion Wisconsin-Stevens Point.

Men’s lacrosse

For those who followed the successful season of the Grayslake North lacrosse team this spring, they will also be able to follow more than a handful of Knights at the collegiate level.

Among those going on to play at the next level are David Collins (Augustana), Jack Mattea (Illinois Wesleyan), Ben Smith (Concordia University-Wisconsin), Shane Pech (Concordia University-Wisconsin), AJ Fish (University of Virginia) and Brendan Walker (Salsibury State in Maryland).

Men’s soccer

Libertyville graduate Adam Witucki, a two-sport standout, has decided to continue his soccer career at Augustana.

Witucki spent his freshman year at Indiana University.

The 5-foot-9 160-pound defender was a Daily Herald Lake County All-Area selection as a senior, when he helped lead coach Andy Bitta’s Tigers to a 17-4-1 record and a regional title. He served as a captain and won the team’s sportsmanship award.

As a junior, Witucki played on a Libertyville squad that went 21-4-2 and finished second in the IHSA Class 3A state tournament.

In addition to three varsity soccer letters, Witucki earned two in coach Scott Bogumil’s basketball program, where he also won the coaches’ award.

Witucki will be joining a Vikings program, established in 1979, that has compiled a 344-230-50 record in 34 seasons of varsity competition.

Women’s track and field

Augustana senior Sarahbeth Jones (Warren) placed ninth at the NCAA Division III National Outdoor championships in Lacrosse, Wis.

Jones set a school-record time of 4:29.29, breaking her own mark of 4:31.29 by exactly two seconds.

Jones came back later in the meet and finished 11th in the 5,000 with a clocking of 17:06.48.

ŸPlease email Sports Notes items to jleusch@dailyherald.com or FAX to (847) 427-1173.