Touching All the Bases: After Downers Grove South drew even at 2-2 in the top of the third inning, Providence sent 10 men to the plate in the bottom of the inning to take a 7-2 lead in Saturday’s Class 4A Nequa Valley Sectional championship game. The Celtics added five more runs in the fifth and were on the brink of winning in five innings, but Matt Trowbridge lined out to center field with the bases loaded. Trowbridge turned in five strong innings on the mound and Sam Travis, Dan Potempa and Zak Kutsulis all homered in Providence’s 12-3 victory.
Patch’s MVP: Potempa singled and scored with two outs in the first to help the Celtics take an early 2-0 lead. He blasted a two-run homer run in the third inning and drove in two more runs in the fifth with a double, finishing 3-for-4 on the morning with four RBIs.
Providence's Leaders: Potempa wasn't the only one swinging a hot bat on Saturday for the Celtics. Kutsulis went 2-for-3 with a home run and three RBIs; Trowbridge helped his own cause by going 3-for-4 with a double; Dominic Olszta went 2-for-3 from the No. 9 spot; Kevin DeFilippis had two hits and two RBIs; and Sam Travis homered and walked twice.
Downers Grove South’s Leaders: Matt Wivinis drove in two runs and Nick Radenkovich scored twice.
Quotable I: Downers Grove South coach Darren Orel on Providence's solid lineup: "Hats off to them. They're just a very, very good team. There's no easy outs in that lineup and you've got to battle and grind out every pitch against them. They executed well and played very, very well. They were definitely better today—no question about it."
Quotable II: Providence coach Mark Smith on scoring a dozen runs: "I didn't expect we'd score 12 runs today. We thought it would be a 4-3 game, 3-2 game. We got to the park and the wind was blowing out and (it was) warm. It was a hitting day with the wind carrying out to right-center. You don't expect (to score 12 runs) at this time, but I'll gladly take it.
Team Records: Providence improved to 35-3. Downers Grove South finished at 25-14.
What’s Next: Providence will play either Edwardsville or Normal Community West in the Champaign Supersectional on Monday at 6:30 p.m.
