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Sports

Trowbridge Pitches Providence to Regional Title

Providence Catholic 3, Benet 0. The Celtics return to sectional play for the first time since 2009 with Saturday's victory.

LISLE—All season, Providence Catholic’s baseball team has walked around with a target squarely on its collective back.

The Celtics were expected to run through the regular season and plow through the postseason with the eventual ending to the season producing the program’s third state title, and first since 1982.

Providence took the first step toward fulfilling that promise Saturday against the host Redwings in the Class 4A Benet Regional final.

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The Celtics picked up a 3-0 win to win their first regional title in two years. They will next face another team playing on its home field, Neuqua Valley, Thursday at 4:30 p.m. in the sectional semifinals.

“Ever since last year (losing to Naperville North for the regional title), we’ve been hungry for this,” Providence pitcher Matt Trowbridge said. “We came out last year and didn’t bring our best effort and got knocked out because of it. Today we really wanted to come out here and make a good step toward advancing. We just came out and played hard.”

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Trowbridge ran out of gas in the seventh, but in the meantime, he kept Benet (18-19) at bay. He struck out four in 6 1/3 innings, allowing no runs on three hits, to improve to 7-0 on the season. Collin McEnery came on to earn the save after Trowbridge walked a pair with one out.

“I just try to go out and throw strikes,” Trowbridge said. “Just let them pitch to contact and let the defense take care of it for you. It wasn’t too impressive, but it got the job done. In the playoffs, you can’t really worry about pitching great games, you just have to worry about advancing.”

The Celtics (33-2) didn’t exactly hit the ball all over the yard, either, but they took advantage of some sloppy Benet play in the third inning to plate the decisive runs. Trowbridge reached on an error to lead off the inning, Dan Wetzel followed with a pinch hit and Kevin DeFilipps sacrificed both runners up.

Benet starter Nick Moore (0-5) then uncorked a wild pitch to score Trowbridge and the throw back to the plate got away, allowing Wetzel to score. The other run came in the fifth when DeFilipps doubled and scored on a Sam Travis single.

“We’ll definitely take it,” Providence coach Mark Smith said. “It’s about survival at this point. I’m extremely proud of the kids. Trowbridge had to throw well today. Our bats were quiet. We have to get better, but it’s about survival. That’s what we did today.”

The feeling is much different heading to sectionals than it was in 2009. The Celtics were an upstart No. 16 seed that shocked their way to sectionals. This time, they’re the No. 2 team and have been among the top teams in the state all year.

“Two years ago was a lot easier because nobody expected us to do a darn thing,” Smith said. “The kids were loose. The target’s been on our back all year because of you guys (in the media) that put us in the top of the rankings. Now our focus will be on Neuqua Valley (which knocked the Celtics out of the summer playoffs last year) Thursday. We have to play better; we know that.”

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