Providence Nine Floating on Cloud Nine

1. Providence (9-0): Celtics top Benet Academy 3-1. So, that’s nine wins for the No. 1 nine. Batting leaders—Sam Travis (.586, 3 homers, 16 RBIs), Kevin DeFilippis (.542), Dan Potempa (.542, 11 RBIs). Pitching—Matt Trowbridge (2-0, 0.64 ERA, 24 strikeouts, 11 innings). Last week: No. 1.

2. Homewood-Flossmoor (8-1): David Fatoki has made a seamless transition from shooting basketball three-pointers to shooting down opposing hitters. He teamed with Dan Lietz to spin a pitching gem in the Vikings’ 5-1 victory over Bradley-Bourbonnais. Last week: No. 3.

3. Andrew (8-4): See what a little warm weather can do? Dan Durkin, Brian Cobb and Mark Kane connected for two-run homers in the T-Bolts’ 13-3 six-inning victory over Bremen. Dan Truesdale (2-1) pitched a three-hitter and struck out seven. Last week: No. 4.

4. Lincoln-Way West (6-1): Bishop takes a pawn. Well, something like that. Matt Bishop (3-0) pitched a four-hitter and struck out four as the Warriors edged Sandburg 2-1 in a Southwest Suburban Conference crossover. Last week: No. 5.

5. Lincoln-Way East (8-3): Things are starting to look rosy in the Griffins’ camp thanks to the hitting of Matt Rosenberger. He went 2-for-3 and had four RBIs in a 10-8 victory over Oak Forest. Included was a three-run homer. Mark Chemello (2-0) was the winning pitcher. Last week: Unranked.

Next best (in alphabetical order): Chicago Christian, Lincoln-Way North, Marian Catholic, Rich Central, Tinley Park.

(Covering the following Patch communities: Chicago Heights, Evergreen Park, Frankfort, Homewood-Flossmoor, Mokena, New Lenox, Oak Forest, Oak Lawn, Orland, Palos, Tinley Park and the neighboring private schools that draw students from those communities).