All hands on deck for summer state

Kevin Koziol's pitching and hitting have been key for Brother Rice in the Crusaders' successful run in the summer state playoffs.

(Jason Geil/For the Sun-Times)

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Kevin Koziol won't be playing pro ball for awhile because he's still got two years left at Brother Rice.

But the star pitcher/shortstop is one of many elite players who use the summer to get used to the grind endured by minor leaguers.

Last week started for Koziol throwing for his travel team in Georgia and ended with him pitching the Crusaders back to the summer state tournament for the first time since 2001.

Does the hectic schedule take a toll? "A little bit," Koziol said after beating St. Rita 10-2 Thursday in the Richards Regional final. "[But] baseball's fun. You know it's tough going back and forth. You've got to find a way to fight through it and win."

That will be job one for Koziol and a bunch of other top players who will be back with their prep teammates for this week's Illinois High School Baseball Coaches Association summer state tourney.

Though Koziol is a special player -- he's ranked No. 1 in Illinois' Class of 2010 by Prep Baseball Report -- his situation is far from unique.

"We've had a lot of people gone for travel teams." said Oak Park pitcher Luke McLeese, who beat Fenwick Thursday to punch the Huskies' ticket to state. "We haven't been able to put together a full lineup or a full defense."

But that changes now, as eight teams converge on the neighboring towns of Lisle and Naperville in search of the IHSBCA summer state title. Monday's games were rained out, so pool play now will run Tuesday through Thursday with the semifinals at 10 a,m. and 12:30 p.m. Friday at North Central College and the title game that night at 7 p.m. at Benedictine University.

Here's a look at the Elite Eight, in alphabetical order:

Brother Rice

After losing back-to-back games to Oak Forest and Sandburg earlier this month, the defending Catholic League Blue champion Crusaders (26-3) have run off 10 straight wins. Koziol and Pat Gannon give Rice one of the top 1-2 pitching combos around.

Elk Grove

The upstart Grenadiers (16-11) won the Prospect Regional as the 13th seed, riding the sturdy right arm of Kyle Pfister. He threw a complete game to beat No. 4 seed Huntley on Monday, pitched three shutout innings vs. Schaumburg on Wednesday and picked up a save against Hersey in Thursday's final.

Lincoln-Way East

With University of Illinois recruit Brandon Hohl leading the way, the Griffins (13-2) demonstrated they could score runs in bunches during the Lockport Regional. East put up 52 runs in five games, with the last nine coming in the seventh inning of a 12-7 title-game win over Minooka.

Naperville Central

The Redhawks (29-10) are no strangers to the summer league state tourney played annually in their backyard. They've qualified more than a dozen times for the Elite Eight and this year are paced by junior shortstop/pitcher Marc Mantucca and senior pitcher Pat Kaminska.

Oak Park

McLeese has stepped up big for the Huskies (20-6), who graduated the top three pitchers from this spring's Class 4A state runner-up club. Shortstop Jo Jo Maldanado, who had a monster run during the IHSA playoffs, leads the Oak Park offense.

Prairie Ridge

After edging Oak Park for the inaugural Class 4A state title last month, the Wolves are aiming to become the first team to win IHSA spring and IHSBCA summer crowns in the same year since Andrew in 1992. Five Division I players graduated, but with veterans like catcher Nolan Jacoby the cupboard is hardly bare.

Warren

The Blue Devils won the Palatine Regional to reach the Elite Eight for the second time in three years. Lefty ace Sean Kennedy has been a mound mainstay.

Waubonsie Valley

The Warriors (24-12) haven't made much noise lately, not winning an IHSA regional since 2004 or reaching the summer state tourney since 1998. But with pitcher Ryne Gill leading the way, Waubonsie's fortunes seem to be back on the rise.