Billo a force for Sandburg

Providing a pitcher the caliber of Sandburg's Greg Billo with a three-run lead is arguably the greatest security blanket in high school baseball this season.

The senior right-hander has allowed more than three runs in a game on just one occasion, and he boasted an 11-1 record and 1.11 ERA heading into Saturday's much-anticipated St. Rita Sectional title game against Brother Rice.

So when No. 1 Sandburg staked Billo to a 3-0, third-inning lead against No. 2 Brother Rice, history said the Eagles would claim victory.

And they did.

Brother Rice trimmed the deficit to 3-2, but Sandburg would tack on an additional run for a 4-2 win in front of an overflow, sun-soaked crowd in Chicago.

Billo was, well, Billo, scattering four hits, walking two and striking out nine, including the side in the seventh. The first four hitters in the Crusaders' lineup were a combined 0-for-12 with three whiffs.

"Greg was really pumped up, and he would not be denied today," said Sandburg coach Doug Sutor, whose Eagles are to play Oak Park-River Forest in the Crestwood Supersectional at 7:30 p.m. Monday. "I was a little worried when I saw the wind blowing out 20 mph this morning. But our kids know how to win."

The match-up was drawn up many different ways: No. 1 vs. No. 2, public school power vs. private school power, Billo vs. Patrick Gannon, who was 9-1 entering the contest.

It was also a rematch of last year's sectional, which Brother Rice won.

This one more than lived up to expectations.

Sandburg received great pitching and timely hitting and, with the exception of one play, was exceptional in the field.

The Eagles scored three runs in the third to grab a lead they would never relinquish. Ian O'Connor ignited the outburst by drilling a 1-and-0 fastball over the left-field fence for a 1-0 lead.

"I keep telling Ian to 'Swing down, you're not a power hitter,' " Sutor said. "I guess he showed me."

It was O'Connor's first homer of the year.

"I was sitting on a fastball," the Eagles' No. 8 hitter said. "He (Gannon) was getting behind on a lot of hitters, and I was waiting for a fastball."

The inning wasn't over, as Nick Kujawa (2-for-3) singled up the middle for the second straight at-bat. Ryan Cowhey then hit what appeared to be an inning-ending double play, but Crusaders second baseman Mike McQuillan - normally as sure-handed a fielder as any in the Southland - booted the grounder.

St. Xavier-bound Jim Pipolo followed with a double into the left-center gap to make it 2-0, and Will Keuper singled to right for a 3-0 spread.

"It was just one of those plays," Brother Rice coach Tim Lyons said of McQuillan's error. "Mike's done so many remarkable things for this program, I'm not going to remember him for that play."

The Crusaders chipped away at the deficit. Ryan Wischhover's routine fly ball to left was misplayed by Cowhey for a two-base error, and Kevin Koziol made the Eagles pay with an RBI double.

However, Koziol was thrown out by Pipolo on an attempted steal of third to end the inning.

"I was kind of surprised he was trying to steal," said Pipolo, who was 2-for-3. "It was a close play."

Kevin Koehler got the Crusaders to within 3-2 in the fifth when he drilled an off-speed offering from Billo over the fence in left-center.

"We had a chance," Lyons said. "I thought we had the momentum back with us."

Sandburg, however, provided Billo with an insurance run in the sixth. Lucas Fritsch singled and scored on a one-out, pinch-hit base hit by Alex Kazmierski to make it 4-2.

Billo allowed a two-out double to Koehler (2-for-3) in the seventh but ended the game by getting Ricky Palmer to flail at a 1-and-2 slider.

The last four outs Billo recorded were all via the strikeout.

"The last couple of innings, I gave it all I had," said Billo, who threw 108 pitches. "The team took a lot of pressure off me when we jumped ahead 3-0. The hitting and defense really backed me up."

For a senior-laden Brother Rice team, the loss was a difficult one.

"It's a tough one to swallow," admitted Lyons, whose Crusaders finished 32-7. "One game doesn't take away what you accomplished all season. I told the guys I'm proud to be their head coach."