Ed Koziol criticizes Rice’s facilities

The “worst facilities in the Catholic League” are driving Ryan Koziol away from Brother Rice, his father Ed said Tuesday. But the elder Koziol disputed any decision has been made about the University of Arizona-bound shortstop’s future.

“We don’t like the baseball facilities at Brother Rice,” said Ed, a Crusaders assistant from 2007 to 2011. “They’re by far the worst facilities in the Catholic League.

“I’ve been a very generous donator to Brother Rice baseball. But, unfortunately, Brother Rice doesn’t do anything to enhance the appearance of the facilities unless I donate the money.”

Koziol, a former minor league pitcher and the president of Adhesive Systems Inc. in Frankfort, coached sons Ryan, a senior-to-be, and Kevin, the 2009 Gatorade Illinois High School Player of the Year, at Rice. Brother Rice’s president, Kevin Burns, told the SouthtownStar last week that Ryan would withdraw from Rice and pursue “options to attend high school in Arizona.”

The SouthtownStar also reported that Sandburg was a rumored destination of Ryan Koziol in the event the family opts not to move to Arizona. Ryan has verbally committed to play collegiately at the University of Arizona.

“We have not talked to any other high school administrator as of this minute,” Ed Koziol said Tuesday. “What (the SouthtownStar) has printed is the rumor mill of people who think they know where he’s going to go.

“Ryan is going to transfer. Where, we have no idea, because we have not talked to anyone.”

Koziol said Ryan hasn’t withdrawn from Rice yet, and could return, adding, “I’m more than welcome to come back and coach.”

That prospect seems unlikely, given Koziol’s criticism of the Rice ballfield.

“We lost nine games to right field flooding out,” he said. “We have a tarp for the infield because I paid for it.”

Koziol said he’d begin contacting other schools this week.

“We’re exploring the opportunities that are out there,” he said. “Going to high school in Arizona is a possibility. We’re also going to talk to schools in our area.”

While Ryan’s playing future remains unsettled, it appears Kevin, a member of the SouthtownStar’s 2010 All-Area team, has found a school for the coming season.

After being removed from Louisiana State’s team before the start of his freshman season, Kevin attended classes at Moraine Valley Community College. He’ll go to Parkland in Champaign, Ed said, then, “he’ll move on to another school after one year at Parkland because he’ll have his associate’s degree.”

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