Big Innings Drive Celtics Into Championship Game

Providence's big inning Friday wasn't as electrifying as it was in Monday's Champaign Supersectional, but it certainly made things comfortable.

Providence was holding on to a 1-0 lead—thanks to a Sam Travis home run in the first inning—when the Celtics came to bat in the top of the third inning of Friday’s Class 4A state semifinal game against Prospect at Silver Cross Stadium in Joliet.

Celtics starting pitcher Matt Trowbridge led off the third with a base on balls. Branden Boggetto came on to pinch run for Trowbridge and moved all the way to third base after No. 9 hitter Brady Wilkin and leadoff man Kevin DeFilippis reached on consecutive bunt singles.

"We can play small ball if we have to," Providence coach Mark Smith said. "These kids are so unselfish and they will do whatever it takes for this team to win, whatever it takes for us to be successful, and it shows.

"All year long we've won games either by swinging the bats and going up there hacking or playing small ball. We have some versatile kids that can do both, and today was a great example of that."

Boggetto scored and the other two runners moved up on a wild pitch to make it 2-0. Joe Houlihan followed with a sacrifice fly, his first of two on the afternoon, to make it 3-0. The Knights elected to intentionally walk Travis, but they paid dearly when Dan Potempa followed with an RBI single to left field to make it 4-0.

Casey Papp then pinch ran for Potempa before Collin McEnery walked to load the bases. The Knights were able to get Zak Kutsulis to pop up, but Dominic Olszta, who has come up with big hits all season long near the bottom of the order, drove in two runs with a single to right field to give the Celtics a 6-0 lead en route to a 9-1 win.

"Wilkin lays down a phenomenal bunt for a hit and DeFilippis lays down a nice bunt, and we got a break when the pitcher slipped a bit, but at worst it was a nice sacrifice," Smith said. "We were able to roll from there. If we can get those guys on base for Sammy (Travis), Danny (Potempa) and Collin (McEnerey), good things can happen with this offense."

Plenty of good things did happen in that third inning and continued the latest trend of the Celtics of coming up with big innings.

Providence put a 9-spot on the scoreboard before Edwardsville even had a chance to grab aluminum in Monday's Champaign Supersectional, which the Celtics went on to win 11-3. the Celtics also scored five runs in the third inning. They also had a five-run fifth in that 12-3 victory.

Smith acknowledged that the Celtics hadn't swung the bats well in the postseason prior to last Saturday. He felt the team was playing tight, but that's not a problem at all now, as Providence heads into today’s state title game.

"In the regional we played tight and I think that had something to do with it," he said. "We didn't hit as a collective team and didn't swing the bats that well. I told them, 'If we go down, boys, let's go down relaxed and enjoy it,' and since then that's what we've done and good results have happened because of it."

Trowbridge didn't need the extra run support Friday, but he was happy to have it. The southpaw was as good as he's been all season, throwing just 78 pitches, yielding just four hits and perhaps most significantly, walking just one. He struck out four.

"It was sort of like this game was on fast-forward," Trowbridge said. "We knew coming into this game that they were very aggressive. My first pitch changeup was a really big key for me. I got a lot of flyouts in the infield and that kept my pitch count down."

Trowbridge has seemingly gotten better throughout the season. There's no denying he's been tough to hit, but now he's limiting his walks.

"It's been really just repetition out there," he said. "Earlier in the year I struggled with walks. I worked out some kinks mechanically and just keep going out there and winning one pitch at a time."

At the plate, Travis continues to jump on any and all pitches he gets. Now with 73 RBIs, he doesn't get challenged too often, but when does, he continues to deliver, like he did when he deposited a blast over the left-center-field fence in the first inning.

"I just tried to hit the ball hard and get something going, some momentum on our side,” Travis said. "The first two guys couldn't get it going and obviously I don't want a 1-2-3 inning right away. I tried to hit the ball and get some momentum and it worked out pretty well for us."

Well enough to move Providence one win away from the school's first baseball title since 1982.

Today's Title Showdown

Providence will take on Lyons Township (36-4) today in the Class 4A state championship game at approximately 5 p.m. at Silver Cross Field in Joliet. Lyons beat Mount Carmel 4-1 in Friday's semifinals, as senior Zach Remijas pitched six shutout innings against the powerful Caravan.

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