March, Crusaders focused on future

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It's been just over three weeks since the upset that almost no one saw coming: Andrew's stunning regional final win over a 31-2 Brother Rice team.

Now the Crusaders are back on the field, figuring their way forward without a bunch of key seniors from the team that started the season 27-0 and was top-ranked in the Chicago area most of the spring.

Have they let go of that frustrating finish? According to senior leadoff man Ryan March, the answer is yes.

"It's always going to be in the back of your mind, 'What if? What if?'" March said after helping Rice get past Mount Carmel 8-7 Tuesday at Saint Xavier University. "But you've just got to move on. You can't dwell on it the rest of your life."

March was a big part of the Crusaders' past success, and he figures to play a starring role in 2010 for the defending Catholic League Blue champs.

"Get nine Ryan Marches and we're going to go places on the field," Rice coach Tim Lyons said. "He's a great wrestler for our high school. He's got that mentality on the baseball field. He refuses to quit, (is) always willing to do what's best for his team.

"I think he defines what Rice baseball is all about."

On Tuesday, March was a thorn in Mount Carmel's side all afternoon. He finished 3-for-4 with a triple, two singles, a run scored and two driven in as Rice moved to 3-0 on the summer.

"Just trying to do what I can do get these young guys going," March said.

Indeed, the "young guys" are key to Lyons' vision of the future. The coach used three incoming sophomores on the mound Tuesday, and his starting lineup featured no fewer than five sophs.

"They're going to be really good when they're older," March said of the Crusaders' Class of 2012. "They've just got to pick up their role and jump on board."

"There's a lot of sophomore talent out there," Lyons said. "This is why you play summer baseball, so you can learn how to play varsity baseball."

Several of the sophs contributed to the win. Brian McQuillan drove in two runs with an RBI single and a sacrifice fly, Garrett O'Neill got the game-winning RBI with a bloop single to center in the bottom of the seventh, and winning pitcher Charlie Finn was 2-for-2.

For Mount Carmel (0-2), Kevin Healy was 2-for-4 with two RBI and leadoff man Steven Bajenski finished 2-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI.

"This is a learning process," Caravan coach Brian Hurry said. "I'm seeing a lot of guys for the first time. We want to win every game, but to me summer ball is more about evaluation."