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The former Webster Groves High pitcher didn't throw a party Monday afternoon after he was selected by the Detroit Tigers in the 16th round of the major league baseball free agent draft.

He simply phoned a few family members and friends to inform them of his good fortune.

Then, by dinnertime, things slipped back into the usual routine at the Ruzicka residence.

"Went out, picked up a pizza," Ruzicka said. "Then came home. It was a pretty normal night."

Yet the goings on earlier in the day were anything but normal.

The righthander, who just completed his junior season at Belmont University by being named the Missouri Valley Conference pitcher of the year, enjoyed the thrill of hearing his name called with the baseball world watching.

Ruzicka was the 489th overall selection and said he will forgo his senior year of eligibility to sign a professional contest later this week.

The down-to-earth manner in which Ruzicka handled the biggest day of his life says a lot about the way he goes about his craft.

The 6-foot-3, 200-pounder approaches the mound in a business-like manner.

"Just watching him, he's so even keeled," Webster Groves baseball coach Dave Wiggins said. "If he ever got rattled, I never saw it."

Explained his mother Kristine Swan, "For him, it's about doing his job and moving on."

Ruzicka's career has been on the rise after a midseason spurt at Belmont midway through last year's sophomore campaign.

"At some point it clicks, and once that happens, we're off to the races," Ruzicka said. "It was just a culmination of all the hard work."

Ruzicka fashioned a 6-4 record this past spring with a 3.56 ERA. He held opponents to a .199 batting average in a league known for its offensive flair. He allowed just one hit over eight innings in a 10-0 complete-game win over Valparaiso on April 25. Two weeks earlier, he limited Bradley to one hit in a 3-0 triumph.

The addition of a cutter to his already strong arsenal helped Ruzicka flourish the past campaign. He consistently throws in the low 90s (miles per hour) and has topped out at 96 or 97.

He completed a three-year career at Belmont with an 11-14 mark but won 10 of his final 19 decisions as a junior and sophomore.

"He's just got such a strong competitors mindset," Wiggins said.

Ruzicka was a catcher early in his career and took up pitching full-time prior to his senior season at Webster Groves, where he went on to fashion a 5-1 mark with a 2.10 ERA. He fanned 82 batters in 53-plus innings, an average of almost 11 per outing.

In addition to his impressive statistics, Ruzicka displayed a bulldog attitude that caught the eye of Wiggins.

"When we talked about him being a pitcher only, the first thing he said to me was, 'No matter what happens, I want the ball against (rival) Kirkwood,' " Wiggins said. "That showed me he had the mentality to be a top quality pitcher."

Ruzicka is a straight-A student who needed just three years to get his degree in finance. He said playing just three seasons in college and then being chosen in the draft was the game plan all along.

Now, he gets a chance to live out his dream. He will likely be sent down to the Tigers spring training facility in Lakeland, Florida, to begin his professional career over the next week or so.

Wiggins is all but certain he will be watching Ruzicka in the majors sometime down the road.

"Everything he does is just so high level," Wiggins said. "It was cool to see him break out in college and now the sky is the limit."