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Sports

Gimme 5: Houlihan Pulls a Magic Recovery Act

Providence senior shortstop Joe Houlihan got it done this season with his glove and his bat despite coming off surgery in January.

Watching the way he moved to his left and his right, as well as charged ground balls in the infield during last weekend's IHSA state finals, one would probably be surprised to know that Providence shortstop Joe Houlihan will never walk through an airport security checkpoint the same again.

Houlihan broke a bone in his leg during the football season, had surgery in January and now has a plate and more than half dozen screws in his leg

He missed the first few weeks of the baseball season, but it didn't take him long to get back in the mix of things for the Celtics as he helped them advance to the state tournament for the first time since 1982 while posting an impressive 37-4 record.

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"It was rough at first for me having surgery and missing the first five weeks," he said. "Playoffs are hard for baseball, and we had a lot of haters out there too, but it was a fun season. It kind of (hurts) that it ended this way, but I'm going to miss these guys a lot."

Providence dropped the Class 4A title game to Lyons Township 8-3. Houlihan will join teammate Matt Trowbridge at Central Michigan in the fall.

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