By Drake Skleba

 

BURBANK – Brother Rice No. 9 hitter, senior Ryan March, delivered the game-winning hit in the bottom of the seventh to lift the No. 18-ranked Crusaders past No. 13 Sandburg 3-2 in a Class 4A St. Laurence Sectional semifinal on Thursday.  

 

With senior right fielder Justin Biondo standing on second base representing the winning run, the Crusader right fielder stepped up to the plate, in a 2-2 tie with one out, in the bottom of the seventh. Facing March was Sandburg ace, 6-foot-3, 205-pound Joe Greenfield.

 

Greenfield (8-2) had retired all 11 Crusader hitters he’d faced, striking out six of them, since relieving Sandburg starting pitcher Ryan Billo with two outs in the third. Biondo led off the Crusader seventh with a leadoff single and was sacrificed to second by sophomore second baseman Brian McQuillan.

 

March had flied out to left against Greenfield to close out the Crusader fourth. This time, March put an end to the proceedings when he ripped a Greenfield fastball over the Sandburg centerfielder’s head as Biondo raced home with the Crusader game-winner.

 

“I went up to the plate with a great opportunity to get a good pitch,” said March.

“It was a pressure-packed situation but I had been waiting to get a big hit for us all season. It felt great to get my pitch and I really hit the ball well.”

 

Hit it well, indeed. March’s game-winning single made a winner of Brother Rice senior right-hander Kevin Koziol, who scattered nine hits in a complete-game effort. Koziol allowed two earned runs and struck out four.

 

“I really wanted the ball against Sandburg,” said Koziol. “I did pretty well tonight with my fastball and at the end of the game my splitter was working well. I made some big pitches to get some key double plays and overall I feel I pitched pretty well.”

 

A huge crowd witnessed the fourth battle in the last six years between these two powerhouse baseball programs in the sectionals. Brother Rice (27-11) struck for two first inning runs against Billo. Crusader sophomore shortstop Ryan Koziol doubled with one out and was driven in by older brother Kevin, who singled, for a quick 1-0 lead. With two outs, senior DH Ryan Horbach hammered a clutch two out double to right to double the Crusader lead to 2-0.

 

“Coach Lyons has been on me to go to right field and it felt good to do that,” said Horbach.

 

Sandburg (27-10) broke through against Koziol in the fifth on a pinch-hit single by junior Nick Carney, scoring Eagle junior second baseman Nick Bates (2-for-3; R), who had singled. With runners on first and third, Koziol made a huge pitch to induce Eagle leadoff man Nick DeWolf to hit a grounder back to the mound. Koziol fired a strike to Ryan Koziol at short for the force and Ryan fired a strike to first baseman Brian Baldwin for an inning-ending double play.

 

Sandburg tied things up at 2-2 in the sixth on an attempted steal of third base by Eagle senior Matt Mangold (2-for-3, 2 2B,R), who had doubled, and then scored when the throw sailed into left field.

 

The game went to the last of the seventh before March’s hit led the Crusaders to an 11 a.m. date with Andrew (26-10) in the St. Laurence Sectional championship game.

 

 “This was a great team win for us,” said Kevin Koziol. “A lot of people contributed and we move on to Saturday’s championship game with Andrew. The game is huge for me and few others who were on the team last year when Andrew knocked us out in the regional final.”

 

“Ryan Walsh has struggled for us this year and I was so happy to see Ryan get the big hit for us against a great pitcher for the win,” said Brother Rice head coach Tim Lyons. “Ryan is from right here in Burbank and he now has a great memory.

 

 “There was no doubt in my mind with the season on the line for us that I wanted Kevin on the mound for us today. He battled for us on the mound and made some big pitches when we needed them.  … It will be the third year in a row we will meet Andrew in the tournament. Two years ago we beat them in the regional championship 9-4 and last year they beat us 12-0. We have tremendous respect for Andrew and I think whoever can catch the ball on Saturday will advance.”