By Drake Skleba

CHICAGO- The “Kiddie Crusaders” led Brother Rice to the Catholic League Blue title Saturday in Mt. Greenwood. Led by sophomore pitcher Kevin Koziol and junior first baseman Kevin Callahan, Brother Rice defeated St. Rita 5-1 in the final day of conference play.

Koziol (4-1) fired a complete-game four-hitter against the hard-hitting Mustangs (24-7; 9-5). Callahan had a clutch two-out, two-run single in the Crusader first inning to extend their lead to 4-0. Koziol, who struck out four and walked three, lost his shutout in the seventh when he recorded his three walks in the game.

“This is really great to win the championship the way we did,” Koziol said. “Beating a quality pitcher like Tony (Zych) on Thursday gave us a lot of confidence coming into today. I located my fastball very well. I didn’t throw too many pitches so my arm felt great all the way through. It really helps my confidence to know I have a great defense behind me.”

Brother Rice (24-6; 10-4) jumped on St. Rita sophomore Anthony Andres (6-2) in the first inning. Mike McQuillan singled and Cam Anello walked to get the Crusaders set up. After a strikeout, Doug Schumacher walked to load the bases. Then Ryan Wischhover hit a hopper to second, which was misplayed for two runs. Callahan (1-for-2; 3 RBI) followed with his clutch hit to make it 4-0.

“It’s really great to be Catholic Blue champs. Words can’t describe it,” said Callahan.

In the top of the third, St. Rita squandered a big inning when Mustang catcher Matt Toomey was hit to leadoff the inning. Junior Jerry Ponio came in as the courtesy runner. Dan Dispensa then crushed a Koziol offering for a sure double; Ponio raced to third where coach Mike Zunica put up the stop sign for Ponio. Dispensa flew around second toward third, which resulted in both runners being caught at third. In the ensuing run-down Dispensa was tagged out. Ponio then broke for the plate. Rice third baseman Cam Anello fired a strike to catcher Ricky Palmer, who tagged out Ponio for a bizarre double play.

Callahan picked up his third RBI of the game in the third on a sac-fly scoring Ryan Wischhover (1-for-3; 2B) to make the score 5-0.

Koziol mowed down the Mustang hitters until the seventh when he walked his only three batters of the game. Rita picked up their lone run on a force play off the bat Matt Toomey.

“For Kevin (Koziol) to shut down St. Rita, with their offensive threats one through nine in the lineup, says enough about Kevin’s performance,” said Brother Rice coach Tim Lyons. “Just a great, gutsy performance by a young sophomore. Kevin Callahan is an offensive lineman for our football team, so he likes to hit. He did a great job today and has been a key addition for the injured Tom Hickey”

“I am very disappointed in my group for our failure to make plays and compete,” said Zunica. “Anthony (Andres) will learn from today’s performance. He is a key member of this program. My freshman pitcher Joey Filomino did a great job. He will be getting the ball a lot more.”