Celtics wear rally caps once again

Providence pitcher Colin McEnery celebrates with teammate Joe Houlihan against Joliet.

(Hung T. Vu/For the Herald News)

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The Providence baseball team has a new magic number — 6-2.

For the third straight game in the highly entertaining Class 4A Joliet Regional, the Celtics trailed 6-2.

In fact, they actually fell behind Joliet 7-2 in the middle innings of Saturday afternoon’s regional championship at JT West. But if you thought it was over, you haven’t been paying attention to these youthful Celtics, a misleading 16th seed in the Lockport Sectional.

This time, Providence employed the long ball as senior second baseman Mike Morrissette and sophomore third baseman Sam Travis belted home runs in a three-run fifth inning and junior center fielder Tim Hanrahan delivered the go-ahead two-run blast in a four-run sixth as the Celtics (20-15) claimed a 9-7 victory.

At that, this thriller was not over. JT (19-15 and the No. 9 seed) put the tying runs on base after two outs in the bottom of the sixth, then got singles from Chad Carlson and Damon Softcheck in the bottom of the seventh to bring up leadoff man Matt Porter, generally recognized as one of this area’s toughest outs.

Providence sophomore left-hander Colin McEnery, who worked four scoreless inning in relief to gain the victory, and the left-handed hitting Porter battled to a full count, and then another foul ball. On the seventh pitch of the at-bat, and after an errant throw on a pickoff try had moved the runners to second and third, McEnery retired Porter on a popout to shortstop Joe Houlihan.

The Steelmen’s season was over.

“We got the guy up there in the seventh inning that we wanted up there,” JT coach Terry Piazza said of Porter. “I’m sure Smitty (Providence coach Mark Smith) did not want to see him there.”

“Lord knows, that boy can swing the bat,” Smith said. “But you knew that’s what it would come down to. Our guys don’t quit, and JT doesn’t quit, either. I have so much respect for Terry (Piazza) and his kids.”

The fireworks of this day included 18 Providence hits, with seven for extra bases, and 12 JT hits, five of them doubles. Every starter on both sides hit safely. Especially noteworthy was how much transpired after two were out in a given inning.

Providence, which will meet the winner of Monday’s Plainfield North-Neuqua Valley game at 6 p.m. Wednesday in a Lockport Sectional semifinal, jumped ahead 2-0 on Brian Davis’ two-run double in the second inning off Joliet junior left-hander Tyler Brown. The Steelmen got within 2-1 on back-to-back, one-out doubles in the bottom of the inning by Eric Sowa and Matt Ronchetti.

Then after the second out was recorded, the floodgates opened on Travis, the Celtics’ starter. Softcheck was hit by a pitch, Porter doubled home two runs to put JT ahead 3-2 and Brown singled in a run. Junior catcher Mike Hollenbeck doubled in a run and Matt Heizer singled one in for a 6-2 lead.

Dan Eichholzer’s single did not produce a run but did send Travis over to third base as junior left-hander John Ciolkosz relieved. He worked into the fourth, when he issed a leadoff walk to Hollenbeck, who would come around to score on Eichholzer’s single for a 7-2 lead. Hollenbeck, Heizer and Eichholzer had two hits each.

But even at that, McEnery relieved with nobody out in the fourth and became one of the heroes.

“I couldn’t decide between Sam (Travis) and Colin (McEnery) before the game,” Smith said. “What a great job Colin did in relief. He came in and threw strikes.”

“For him to come in as a sophomore in this game and shut them down, that was huge,” Morrissette said.

However, the Celtics still were looking at a 7-2 deficit and in need of an offensive spark. Morrissette’s solo homer to left with two outs in the fifth did the job. Kyle Thomas followed with a hard single and Travis lined a two-run homer to right. Just like that, Providence was back within 7-5.

“Those couple of big home runs got us back in the game,” Smith said. “I think Morrissette’s put a little shock into the guys. It told them that it wasn’t over.”

Riding the momentum of the previous inning, the Celtics stayed hot in the sixth. McEnery singled, moved up on a sacrifice and scored on Matt Trowbridge’s double, with center fielder Porter narrowly missing a spectacular catch. After Houlihan flied deep to center for the second out, Hanrahan sent Brown’s 96th and final pitch on a line over the left-field fence to give Providence an 8-7 lead.

Morrissette greeted reliever Jorge Galvan with a double off the left-field fence and Thomas singled him home. Travis walked and A.J. Woynerowski singled, but Brown, who moved to left field after being lifted from the mound, threw a strike to nail the runner at the plate for the final out, keeping the Steelmen within 9-7.

And, setting up that nail-biting finish.

“That’s what I like about our team,” Morrissette said. “We never say die. “We usually play small ball, but today we brought the big sticks. As soon as we got to swinging the bats, we perked up.”

Travis and Thomas had three hits each while Hanrahan, Morrissette, Woynerowski, Brian Davis and Trowbridge all had two for the Celtics.

But none rang louder than Hanrahan’s go-ahead blast, his third homer of the season.

“I just wanted to get on base and give us a chance with the big dogs like Morrissette and Thomas coming up behind me,” Hanrahan said. “I got pretty excited when I saw it went out.

“We’re definitely a streaky-hitting team. When we do get it going, we put ’em up in bunches.”

“Tim’s been struggling some of late,” Smith said, “but that was a huge hit. At first I didn’t know if it would stay fair, and then I didn’t think it was going out.”

Hanrahan said the 16th seed the Celtics received was not unexpected.

“We knew we were pretty young and would go through some growing pains, and we did,” he said. “But we’re playing our best ball now. Our team sticks together, and once we get hot, we can score in bunches.”

Then he expressed a sentiment echoing throughout the Celtics’ camp.

“But you know what, it would be nice to get a lead once in a while,” he added.

“The word heart defined this team the entire tournament,” Smith said. “We didn’t actually play that well today with our baserunning mistakes and outfield miscues, but at this stage, you have to find a way to win, and these kids are doing it.”

“My hat’s off to Smitty and his kids,” Piazza said. “Tyler (Brown) pitched well, and they hit some good pitches. Our bats went cold after we got the 7-2 lead, but you have to credit their relief pitchers. “

Providence played a tough schedule and did not get the credit they deserved coming into the regional. They’re a great team.”

He finished with a mention of the seniors in his program.

“I appreciate all that our seniors have done,” he said. “This was a tough loss for all of us to take, but with the kids we have coming back, we have to bounce back in the summer.”