Prior to Owens: Ruch pitched at Cleveland State University last year before the baseball program was disbanded. He led the team in ERA at 3.93 as he went 1-1 in 25 appearances. In 18.1 innings pitched, Ruch allowed 16 hits and eight earned runs while striking out six. He had a batting average against of .242.

In high school, Ruch was a three-sport athlete at Eastwood, where he played football, basketball and baseball. As a member of the baseball team, Ruch was named Second Team All-Suburban Lakes League and First Team All-District as a senior and Honorable Mention All-SLL as a junior. As a member of the basketball team, he helped lead Eastwood to back-to-back SLL titles as a junior and senior. Additionally, he was named First Team All-SLL and Second Team All-District as a senior. As a junior, he was named Second Team All-SLL and Honorable Mention All-District. In football, he was named Honorable Mention All-SLL as a senior. Academically, Ruch was an honor roll student and a member of the National Honor Society.

Personal: Clayton is the son of Jeff and Laurie Ruch. He is a pre-physical therapist concentration major at Owens.