Crusaders' Koziol commits to LSU

Kevin Koziol's pitching and hitting were key for Brother Rice in the Crusaders' successful run in the 2008 summer state playoffs.

(Jason Geil/For the Sun-Times)

July 11, 2009 BY MIKE CLARK mclark@suntimes.com

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With a resume that includes a Gatorade Illinois Baseball Player of the Year award this spring and a 31 on the ACT, Brother Rice's Kevin Koziol had plenty of college options.

"I think it was a very tough decision for him," Crusaders coach Tim Lyons said of Koziol, who made a verbal commitment on Thursday to play for defending College World Series champ Louisiana State.

Koziol, a shortstop and pitcher who is a two-time Sun-Times All-Area selection, picked the Tigers over such powers as Notre Dame, Clemson and Kentucky.

"Some of the things that swayed him to LSU were the facilities, coach [Paul] Mainieri and a combination of everything he was looking for: warm weather, a good program," Lyons said.

Koziol has been a three-year varsity mainstay for the Crusaders, who began the 2009 season with a 27-game winning streak and finished 31-3.

Bsttling a lingering back ailment, he still excelled at the plate and on the mound, batting .356 with eight homers and eight doubles, driving in 28 runs and drawing 30 walks. Koziol was 5-2 as a pitcher with four complete games.

"With Kevin not being 100 percent physically, we felt what we got out of him was a plus," Lyons said. "Right now, he's 100 percent. He's playing great baseball for [the] Top Tier [summer team]."

As one of the top 100 players in the nation in the 18-and-under division, Koziol was one of three Illinois representatives in USA Baseball's Tournament of Stars last month in Cary, N.C.

LSU is coming off its sixth national championship and a 56-19 finish that earned Mainieri consensus National College Baseball Coach of the Year honors.

The Tigers were paced by College World Series Most Outstanding Player Jared Mitchell, a first-round draft pick of the White Sox who signed his first pro contract on Wednesday and was assigned to Class A Kannapolis.