St. Rita Ace Deals Providence Bum Hand

1. Providence (17-2): Good or charmed? Eddie DeLaRiva slowed the Celtics’ offense in St. Rita’s 10-3 victory. The matchup was one between two Catholic League Blue powers and a couple of  “A-level” arms. DeLaRiva was touched for 11 hits, but struck out five and ran his record to 9-0. Last week: No. 1.

2. Rich Central (13-1-1): Nick Collins blasted three doubles in the Olympians’ 19-8 victory over rival Bloom. Tyler House went 2-for-3, including a pair of doubles of his own, and drove in three runs. Last week: No. 2.

3. Lincoln-Way East (14-4): Bryan Contley went 2-for-3 and had two RBIs in the Griffins’ 5-3 victory over Joliet West. Contley’s performance served as the capper to a perfect 3-0 week for East. Last week: No. 3.

4. Lincoln-Way North (14-3): Two good signs for the Phoenix: A.J. Neufeld launched his first homer in an 18-0 rout of Thornridge. Jake Harper (4-1) struck out 10 in four innings. North added victories over Palatine (11-5) and Romeoville (6-5) and finished with 35 runs scored in three games, all victories. Last week: Unranked.

5. Richards (15-5): Chris Elliott’s three-run homer was the big blast in the battle of Oak Lawn. Elliott finished with two hits in four at-bats in the Bulldogs’ 14-2 five-inning victory over Oak Lawn. Joe Lyons added two hits and two RBIs. Jon Danielson pitched four innings to gain the win. He allowed one earned run and struck out four. Last week: No. 5.

Next best (in alphabetical order): Andrew, Chicago Christian, Homewood-Flossmoor, Oak Forest, Sandburg.

(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).