Rutas Earns All-conference Baseball Honors

All season long, Michael Rutas was Mr. Dependable for Batavia’s baseball team.

Rutas, who pitched better than his final 5-4 record might indicate, has been recognized for his efforts and named to the all-Upstate Eight Conference River Division squad for the 2011 campaign.

Rutas, a senior who also ranked first academically in his graduating class, kept the Bulldogs (14-18) in every game he pitched, sporting a 2.52 ERA while holding opposing teams to a .188 batting average.

“His record was 5-4 but that was due to a lack of run production, not pitching performance,” Batavia coach Matt Holm said of his team’s only all-conference selection. “Michael was stone-cold solid on the mound. The team knew every time he was on that bump that we had our best chance to win, and he delivered time after time.”

Rutas’ season highlight came when he fired a no-hitter during the Bulldogs’ 4-0 triumph over co-conference champion Streamwood in April. It was the first no-hitter of his career.

The right-hander, who worked a team-high 69 1/3 innings and allowed just 25 earned runs and 48 base hits, recorded four complete-game shutouts and tossed a 10-inning, no-decision in a 2-2 game against Neuqua Valley called due to darkness.

“His ERA is only up to where it was due to one bad inning against Geneva,” said Holm.

Rutas, who struck out 71 batters, also was one of the area’s best fielding pitchers. He finished with a 1.000 fielding percentage, recording 25 assists.

“Michael won our Golden Glove award, which is a combination of fielding percentage and ‘web gems,’” said Holm.

His teammates also voted him as this year’s Most Valuable Player.

Batavia’s all-conference honorable mention selections were Braden Hrack, Jay Clark, Nick Pappas, Danny Seiton and Sam Burnoski.

Hrack, a senior second baseman, hit .321 with one home run and 10 RBI. He shared the team lead with nine stolen bases and had four sacrifice bunts.

“Braden has been the captain of our infield,” said Holm. “Until the last week of the season where they just fell short, Braden led the team’s chase for the team double play record. He was an important fixture at the top of our lineup.”

Clark, a senior catcher, batted .314 with one home run and 22 RBI. More importantly, Clark helped keep the opposition’s running games in check.

“Jay is a success story,” Holm said. “As a freshman and sophomore, he rarely played but because Joe Sortino chose to focus on pitching, Jay took on the challenge to become our starting catcher. I told him, ‘To be the starting catcher for the Bulldogs, you MUST throw out base runners.’ Jay rose to that challenge, throwing out 50 percent of would-be base stealers.”

Pappas, a junior pitcher/infielder, finished 4-1 with a 2.29 ERA. In 36 2/3 innings, the right-hander allowed 12 earned runs and 28 hits with 34 strikeouts.

“Nick had impressive wins against Geneva and South Elgin,” said Holm. “For his size (he’s a starting tackle on the football team), Pappy is very quick covering bunts, also earning him the nickname, ‘Big Cat.’”

Seiton, a junior shortstop, hit .349 with two home runs, 13 RBI and team highs for stolen bases (nine) and on-base percentage (.500).

“He showed an increased range at shortstop and came up with some big web gems,” said Holm. “He will most likely return as our lead-off man with his high on-base percentage and ability to steal bases.”

Burnoski, a junior outfielder, hit .309 with one home run, eight doubles, a team-high 30 RBI and a .449 slugging percentage.

“Sam led our team in all slugging categories,” Holm said. "He had 27 RBI in 25 conference games. Those are very good RBI totals in the Upstate Eight. We see big power in his future.”