Senior shortstop Christian Holmes is fitting in just fine at Brother Rice.
Holmes, a Kansas State recruit and transfer from De La Salle, is already making himself right at home defensively and in the batting order as the Crusaders’ cleanup hitter.
But according to teammate Bryce Nevils, Holmes is not really a new kid on the block.
“We’ve all played with him before,” said Nevils, a junior designated hitter. “We played travel ball with him on (Amateur City Elite) and we know he’s a great player.”
Holmes is one of the big reasons why Brother Rice is off to a great start, having outscored its opponents 35-1 after a 16-0 nonconference victory Tuesday at rainy Sandburg.
“Obviously, Christian is a great player, but most importantly, he’s a great person and a great fit for us,” Brother Rice coach Sean McBride said. “He came over in the offseason, and my big thing when it comes to that is, ‘Is he the right kind of human being to fit with our guys?’
“He showed pretty early that he was, and the talent speaks for itself on the field.”
Holmes, a Frankfort resident, drove in two runs in the first inning Tuesday against Sandburg (0-3) with a double and then stole third. He added a double in the third and again stole third.
He’s that type of presence for the Crusaders.
“My coach (Chris Hall) left De La Salle, I knew a bunch of guys here and I knew it was a great environment,” Holmes said of transferring. “I know it’s a great team and I want to win a state championship.
“All the guys are awesome, and they really gave me a family to work with.”
Nevils added a double and homer for Brother Rice, while Beau Polickey hit a two-run homer.
Pitchers Dylan Warda and Josh Sutker held Sandburg to one hit — a single in the third inning by Jayden Comia.
Sandburg, meanwhile, had hoped its $1 million turf field would be ready in 2021, but that didn’t happen. The Eagles were left without a home.
It’s ready for this season, but the Eagles began Monday with a 7-5 loss to Reavis followed by Tuesday’s setback in which five pitchers combined to walk 12.
The loss left veteran Sandburg coach Jim Morsovillo frustrated.
“We’ll just keep working hard like we’ve been doing,” he said. “They need to play better, and I really don’t have much else to say.”
The Crusaders enjoyed the turf field a little bit more with multiple headfirst slides into second and third base.
“It was fun getting all wet,” Nevils said.
With convincing wins over Homewood-Flossmoor, St. Patrick and Sandburg, McBride is happy with what he has seen from the Crusaders heading into a four-game Georgia trip that begins Thursday.
“We expected to be pretty good with our lineup, but the question mark was the mound because we graduated a ton of innings,” McBride said. “We knew we had guys who could throw, and they have performed to this point.
“Now, we get to go down to Georgia and play some of the top competition from the South. We’re really going to challenge ourselves down there.”
Last season, Brother Rice was stunned by Plainfield East 3-0 in the Class 4A supersectional at Ozinga Field in Crestwood.
Nevils, a South Holland resident, had one of Brother Rice’s three hits in that game. He remembers how hard it was to lose.
“It was tough because we had seniors leaving us after that loss,” Nevils said. “Those were the guys who showed us the ropes.
“We want to bounce back this year and try to win a state championship.”
Jeff Vorva is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.