Travis' five hits lift Providence

Updated: March 22, 2011 3:54PM

Travis was terrific.

Sam Travis went 5-for-5 with five RBI and came in to get the save as Providence defeated Sandburg 14-11 in an old-fashioned slugfest for the regional title of the Illinois High School Baseball Coaches Association Summer Tournament Thursday afternoon at Sandburg.

Providence (11-7) now moves on the the Phil Lawler Summer Classic State Tournament on Monday at Benedictine University. The Eagles finish the summer at 15-3.

"I'm just seeing the ball really well now," said Travis, a senior, who has committed to the University of Indiana. "It always helps when the wind is blowing out."

It certainly does, but Travis and his teammates were excited to defeat a Sandburg squad that was state runner-up in the Phil Lawler Summer Classic a year ago.

"We're really rolling now," Travis said. "We scored at least nine runs in each of our three games here (at Sandburg). If we keep scoring like this we'll be alright."

The Celtics (11-7) were coming off a 16-5, six inning victory over top-seeded Lincoln-Way North in the semifinals. They scored 39 runs in the past three games.

Trailing 9-8, Providence scored four runs in the top of the fifth to take the lead for good. Kevin DeFilippis (single, three runs, two RBI) tied the game with a RBI ground out. Dan Wetzel (2-for-4, walk, three RBI) followed and put the Celtics ahead for good with a two-out RBI single to left. Travis then thumped the first pitch to left center for a two-run home run and a 12-9 Providence lead.

Travis, who had two singles and two doubles, came up with another huge hit in the seventh. He greeted the Eagles fourth pitcher, Eric Chmielewski, by bashing a first-pitch two-run double to left which gave Providence a 14-9 lead.

"I know the pitchers are always trying to get ahead, so I was looking first pitch fastball," said Travis, who also had a first-pitch RBI single in a four-run second. "I was just trying to hit a gapper."

"Not a bad day," smiled Providence coach Mark Smith of Travis, who started the game at third base. "He's one heck of a terrific player and nothing he does surprises me anymore. He hits the ball so hard I sometimes fear for my life coaching third."

Those final two runs proved to be big as Sandburg didn't go quietly in the bottom of the seventh. With one out the Eagles got a double and a walk to chase Providence pitcher Matt Trowbridge, who had entered in relief in the third.

Trowbridge did his job though, going 4 1/3 innings, giving up four runs on four hits with three strikeouts and three walks. He also pitched out of a bases loaded, one-out jam in the sixth by picking a guy of first and getting a strikeout to end the inning.

But the game was now put in the hands of Travis, who has been in that roll for the Celtics. The right-hander came in and issued a walk to load the bases.

Brent Valach (2-for-4) then knocked a 1-2 pitch to center for a two-run single to cut the lead to 14-11. But the Celtics got a break when a Sandburg runner ran through the stop sign and was thrown out at third by center fielder Brady Wilkin (2-for-2) for out number two.

However the Eagles reloaded the bases on a bloop single and a walk. That put the tying run at first and brought up the winning run in the form of junior third baseman Dan Rizzie, who had reached base in his previous four at bats - including a hit-by pitch and two walks.

All Rizzie had done on in the semifinals on Wednesday was hit a grand slam to put Sandburg ahead for good as the Eagles rallied from an 8-1 deficit for a 13-8 win over Lincoln-Way East.

Travis made sure there was no repeat of that this time as he got Rizzie to chase an outside fastball on a 1-2 pitch for strike three.

"On the last guy I got a little lucky," said Travis, who didn't realize Rizzie had hit a grand slam the day before. "They had hit my breaking ball, so I just tried to blow it by him with my fastball and stuck with that."

Providence scored four runs in the first on a RBI single by Dan Potempa and a three-run home run to left center from Collin McEnery. The Eagles came back with six runs in the bottom of the inning on a two-run single by Rizzie and a 3-run double by Zach Reks. When the Celtics answered with four more runs in the second to take an 8-6 lead, it looked like the both teams might score in the 20's.

"I'm exhausted," said Smith, who thought it was sometime in the mid to lat 90's when Providence last advanced to the summer state finals. "It's been a heck of a week with five games in four days and I couldn't be more proud of the kids.

"We have a senior group and this has been 3 years in the making. We had a lot of guys play with their travel teams at the start of the summer and we had some other guys learn their rolls. But we set our sights on this at the start of the summer and here we are."

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