Lake Forest’s Murphy gets shot at showcase

As Natalia Murphy tries to put herself in position to play at the next level, she’s open to playing anywhere on the softball field.

The Lake Forest High School senior-to-be participated in the inaugural Northwest Suburban Showcase last weekend at Stevenson. Murphy saw action in all three outfield spots to augment her natural spot at first base.

“I can play wherever someone needs to put me,” Murphy said.

At the plate, Murphy was 0-for-3 during Saturday’s first game. The NSC/WSC prevailed 9-3 over a team representing the Upstate Eight/DVC.

“My batting has been OK,” Murphy said.

The lefty is determined to become a more skilled hitter. Later in the summer, she’ll head to a batting clinic in Joliet. She will be instructed by Marci Kritikos, an assistant coach at North Central College.

“She (Kritikos) is going to fix my batting,” Murphy said. ”I have a problem with hitting the ball late. I need to be able to pull more to right field.”

Murphy plans to take her game up a notch in the near future.

“I love to compete,” she said. “I think I can reach my potential.”

She’s only been a travel player for two years. After spending the previous year with the Vernon Hills Stingers, Murphy now plays with the Warren Wave.

“The competition will help me get ready for college,” Murphy said. “It will be a matter of talking to the (college) coaches and showing them what I can do.”

Lake Forest catcher Stephanie Coates participated in the Skills Showcase portion of the event.

Strong debut: As the initial softball showcase wrapped up, Heather Ruchim had no complaints.

“I think it went very well,” said Ruchim, who runs Heather Ruchim Softball, Inc. “Most importantly, the girls were having a lot of fun and they’re making new friends. For a first year, everything is going well.”

The event attracted 20 college coaches, including visitors from the University of Illinois and DePaul University.

“I think they liked what they saw,” Ruchim said. “It’s a solid foundation for next year.”

Ruchim, who is an assistant JV coach at Deerfield High School, was hoping to draw a few more coaches to the event. But the numbers were still satisfactory.

“There were only 80 girls playing at a time,” Ruchim noted. “So the ratio of 80 girls to 20 coaches was pretty good.”

The showcase is the only one of its kind in Illinois. Ruchim knows there are similar softball showcases in Pennsylvania and Colorado.

Ruchim plans on holding the showcase again in 2012. She’s also considering putting together a skills showcase for next fall.

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