South Suburban makes it three straight Region 4 championships, Ruzich surpasses 1,300 wins

RIVER GROVE, ILL. - The South Suburban College baseball team accomplished two major feats at the 2023 NJCAA Region 4 Division I Tournament: winning a third straight championship and pushing coach Steve Ruzich past 1,300 career wins. The Bulldogs outscored their opponents by a 35-13 margin over three games to secure their 12th region crown since 2004. Sophomore Dawson Tanner of South Suburban was named the Region 4 Tournament Most Valuable Player, while Ruzich collected another Region 4 Coach of the Year honor.

As the tournament's second seed, SSC opened postseason play with a 10-0 drubbing of #3-seed Kishwaukee College in five innings to give Ruzich the milestone victory. In the semifinals, the Bulldogs scored three or more runs in four separate innings en route to a 20-10 defeat of top-seed and host Triton College. Bradley White produced two of the team's four home runs in the win that propelled the Bulldogs to the title game and a rematch with the Trojans, who avoided elimination with a 6-4 victory the Kougars.

Rain postponed the championship meeting a day, and trailing 3-2 in the seventh inning on Saturday, May 13, South Suburban College produced three runs to secure a 5-3 decision. Tanner was 2 for 4 with the game-winning RBI that sent SSC to the NJCAA Midwest District Tournament.

Region 4 Tournament MVP
Dawson Tanner - South Suburban College

Region 4 Coach of the Year
Steve Ruzich - South Suburban College

The three-team field at the NJCAA Midwest District Tournament included Region 24 champion Wabash Valley College, who entered as the #3-ranked team in the NJCAA Division I Poll, and Region 11 champion Indian Hills Community College. The Bulldogs picked up a 10-6 win over IHCC, but dropped a hard-fought 3-2 contest to Wabash Valley.

In an elimination game rematch with Indian Hills, the Bulldogs built a 4-2 lead that was erased with a three-run inning. SSC answered back with three runs of their own for a 7-5 advantage, but two more run in the bottom of the eighth tied it. In extra innings, Bradley White went to work again and drove a triple to left center to plate the game-winning run in an 8-7 victory.

The win put SSC in the district championship against Wabash Valley, but WVC was too much in a 15-1 setback that ended the Bulldogs season with a 42-21 record.