By Sean Duncan

CHICAGO – Brother Rice’s Koziol brothers created an indelible family moment Thursday, one that they may still be talking about years later at the dinner table.

Senior Kevin Koziol hit a pair of homers and drove in five runs, only to be matched by his younger brother Ryan’s stellar four-hit pitching performance in leading Brother Rice to a 7-2 victory at No. 8 St. Rita in a Chicago Catholic League Blue contest.   

“It’s memorable,” said Kevin Koziol, who’s signed at LSU. “It’s a cool feeling [to play with your brother] that not everyone gets to have.”

Since coming back from an ankle injury, Kevin Koziol is swinging one of the hottest bats in the state. On Thursday, the 6-foot-2 shortstop went 3-for-3 with a walk and drove in five of the Crusaders’ seven runs. His first home run, a solo taper-shot blast off of St. Rita ace Joey Filomeno (5-2), staked Brother Rice to a 2-0 lead in the third inning. Kevin delivered a run-scoring single in the fifth before he put the game away with a three-run shot on a first-pitch changeup. After missing about three weeks, Kevin now has seven home runs, including three in the last two games.

“They’re both hot right now,” said Brother Rice coach Tim Lyons, whose team improved to 22-9, 13-5 in the Catholic Blue. “[Kevin] came through for us today. This was a very good team win.”

Koziol’s second homer ended Filomeno’s day. The hard-throwing junior left-hander struck out 10 in 6 2/3 innings, recording six punchouts in the first two innings. The Louisville recruit allowed five hits, walked five and hit two batters. St. Rita reliever John Starcevich came in, only to be welcomed by senior first baseman Brian Baldwin’s solo homer to centerfield to make it 7-2.

Sophomore Ryan Koziol (7-0) took care of the rest. The 6-foot-3 right-hander shut down St. Rita (23-6, 12-4) despite strong hitter-friendly winds blowing out. Ryan used an 85-88 mph fastball and a diving changeup to limit the Mustangs to four hits and one earned run while striking out four and walking two.

 

“I was just trying to keep the ball low and get outs,” said Ryan. “I was just in rhythm; I was in my zone.”

 

Said Lyons: “Nothing breaks him. He’s almost like a block of ice with his expressions. … He’s certainly mature. He pitched a great game.”

 

Ryan, who has delivered in all of Brother Rice’s big games, impressed his brother, too.

 

“It was a great performance,” said Kevin. “It was a gutsy performance. He’s done it all year for us. He brings it to a new level every game.”

 

Senior left fielder Justin Biondo went 2-for-3 with two doubles and a RBI for Brother Rice, which has won eight of its last 11 games. Biondo’s first double scored Ryan Horbach, who had led off the second inning with a walk, to stake the Crusaders to a 1-0 advantage.

 

“No doubt this was a great win,” said Biondo. “We came together as a team; we’re playing team Brother Rice baseball right now.”

 

St. Rita tied the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the third when Sean Kalisz led off with a single, advanced to third on an error and a sac bunt, and scored on Kyle Stearns’ sac fly. Filomeno made it 3-2 in the sixth when he crushed Koziol’s only mistake for a home run to center. Mark Payton had two hits for St. Rita, which needed a win to stay close with conference-leading No. 5 Providence in the Chicago Catholic Blue.

 

“Our energy is a problem,” said St. Rita coach Mike Zunica. “They don’t hate to lose.”