Two of everything
Polickey, a senior second baseman, produces 2 hits, 2 runs and 2 RBIs as Brother Rice beats St. Rita
As a junior, Brother Rice’s Beau Polickey carved out a role for himself as a relief pitcher. This season, though, he wanted to earn a place in the Crusaders’ loaded lineup.
“All offseason, I just worked hard,” Polickey said. “I knew there was a spot open at second and I made sure it was my spot.
“It’s really exciting to play every day, especially with this team and all the talent we have. It’s cool to be on the field with all these guys.”
And Polickey, a senior second baseman, has been producing out of the No. 9 hole.
That trend continued Wednesday as he came up with two hits, two runs and two RBIs as visiting Brother Rice rolled to a 10-3
Catholic League Blue victory over St. Rita.
“Beau’s been really consistent this year,” Brother Rice coach Sean McBride said. “He’s always been a guy that we thought would be a good player for us. I think it just took him to have some physical maturing as far as strength.
“He’s always been a good bat-to-ball guy, a good glove guy. He’s had a good senior year. I’m really proud of him. He’s put the work in and he deserves this.”
Maryville recruit Nick Daugherty also went 3-for-3 with two RBIs for Brother Rice (22-4, 12-2), which remained a half-game ahead of Mount Carmel in the Catholic Blue with four games left for the Crusaders and five for the Caravan.
Kansas State recruit Christian Holmes added a two-run double. Purdue commit Cole Van Assen allowed three runs over 5 ⅔ innings for the pitching win.
Sir Jamison Jones went 3-for-3 with an RBI and Miguel Cantu had two RBI singles for St. Rita (13-11-1, 8-5).
Polickey, who is committed to Heartland
Community College, came through with an RBI single in the second inning to give Brother Rice the lead for good at 3-2. He then swiped home on a double steal.
Batting at the bottom of the order, Polickey tries to set the table for the Crusaders.
“I think of it as a second leadoff spot,” Polickey said. “I want to get on so the guys at the top of our lineup, who are our big hitters, can drive me in.
“I get on base and let them do the work.”
Polickey and Daugherty, who bats seventh, showcased the Crusaders’ depth.
“I’m not just saying this because I bat last,” Polickey said. “But I think you could flip our lineup completely and we would do just fine.”
McBride said Polickey is hitting “about .330.”
“He’s had really good, long at-bats when we need them,” McBride said. “He’s just been solid all around. He’s taken a leadership role too. He’s done awesome.”
While Brother Rice tacked on runs in the third, fourth and sixth innings, Van Assen settled in after allowing two runs in the first.
He struck out five, scattering eight hits and a walk.
Brother Rice has won all nine games started by Van Assen.
“I love pitching in big games like this,” Van Assen
said. “I want to win, obviously. I feel like I can help my team do that.”
St. Rita was hurt by two early errors.
“One thing we always do is battle,” St. Rita coach John Nee said. “But you know what? We make our lives so hard. We’ve faced all kinds of adversity this year, and a lot of it is self-inflicted.
“We’ll battle until the end, but if we could figure out that mentality from the start instead of giving away all these runs early, then we’ve got something. That’s what we talked about. We know we’re good enough if we stop hurting ourselves.”