Ruchim jack-of-all-trades for Pats

BASEBALL-- Kyle Ruchim's world is pretty good right about now.

The Stevenson High School shortstop/pitcher fired a four-hit shutout in Friday's 6-0 win over St. Patrick.

For an encore, he delivered the game-winning double and was the winning pitcher in Monday's 2-1, nine-inning thriller over visiting Warren. Ruchim stepped to the plate after Corey Lasky (walk) and Bill Dorn (hit by pitch) reached base.

"It was a 2-and-1 count, so I knew I would get something good to hit," Ruchim offered.

He didn't miss the fastball, blasting a liner to the gap in right-center field to chase home Lasky and complete a 3-for-5 day. Ruchim also hurled two scoreless innings in relief (no hits, 3 strikeouts).

Amazingly, he had to share the spotlight Monday with sophomore pitcher Jeremy Scheck. In his first varsity start after a call-up from the sophomore team, the lefty allowed a run on four hits over seven innings. Scheck struck out 11 and walked three.

"I knew he was the best pitcher on the sophomore team," said Patriots coach Paul Mazzuca, whose club is 15-2 (3-1). "I had no idea if he'd last one inning because I'd never seen him pitch before."

Ruchim had some inside knowledge on Scheck, however.

"I trained with him over the summer," Ruchim said. "I absolutely knew he was capable of doing that."

Ruchim (3-0) displayed his pitching prowess against the Shamrocks, striking out seven and getting a slew of ground-ball outs.

"Kyle was getting his breaking ball over," Mazzuca said. "He got a lot of ground balls, and we were done in an hour-and-a-half."

Hitters in the 6-0 triumph included Ted Heiser (2 hits, 2 RBIs) and Pat Wilson (2 hits, 2 RBIs).

PITCHING RICH: Scott Firth will not finish the year undefeated. But the star right-hander had everything working in a 2-1 loss to Libertyville April 22.

Check out Firth's line: two runs (1 earned), four hits, 11 strikeouts, no walks. For the year, the Clemson University-bound Firth is 3-1 with a 0.47 ERA. In 30 innings of work, he's allowed 12 hits and seven walks with a gaudy 44 strikeouts.

Wildcats right-hander Troy Barton (3-3) won the duel, allowing a run while striking out nine.

The Patriots bounced back with a 9-3 win over Grant on Thursday. Brad Sorkin (4-0) worked six innings, allowing six hits while fanning nine hitters. Offensive leaders were Ruchim (2-for-3, solo homer) and Matt Geissler (3-for-3, 3 doubles, 3 RBIs).

Matt Robin (4-0) took a star turn Saturday against Rolling Meadows. In a 4-3 victory, the lefty struck out 14 while allowing five hits and four walks.

"I didn't know he had 14 strikeouts," Mazzuca said. "He didn't have his best stuff."

The game was deadlocked 3-3 in the bottom of the seventh when Dorn executed a suicide-squeeze bunt to bring home the winning run. Dorn was 2-for-2 with three runs scored and three stolen bases.

RIVALRY GAME: The Patriots will host Buffalo Grove on Saturday (11 a.m.) in a battle of neighborhood rivals.