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Top takes Providence for a spin
Updated: April 27, 2011 11:01AM
When the first four hitters in your batting order go a combined 12-for-15, generally good things are going to happen for your team.
Case in point, Providence’s 7-3 victory Monday over visiting St. Laurence.
Kevin DeFilippis (3-for-4), Zak Kutsulis (4-for-4), Sam Travis (2-for-4, 3-run homer) and Dan Potempa (3-for-3, 2 RBI) carried the No. 1 Celtics (15-1, 5-1) to the Catholic League Blue win. The rest of the order was 0-for-14.
The victory helped Providence avenge a loss Saturday to the No. 7 Vikings (17-4, 7-1).
“That’s a recipe for success,” Providence coach Mark Smith said of his four hitters monster day. “And all those guys can run a little bit, which allowed us to be aggressive on the bases and we were able to take advantage of some things.”
The Celtics registered four straight hits in the bottom of the first against St. Laurence starter Mike Chimera. Potempa’s two-run single up the middle gave the Celtics a quick 2-0 lead.
St. Laurence cut the deficit in half in the second when Celtics starter Matt Trowbridge walked Brandon Mallder with the bases loaded to force in a run.
Trowbridge had difficult finding the plate all afternoon, walking nine during a 122-pitch effort.
The left-hander was able to escape jams every inning. The Vikings, down 2-1, had runners at second and third with no outs in the third. Trowbridge performed a Houdini act and stranded both runners to preserve the one-run advantage.
“That was big,” Smith said. “He has the stuff to get out of situations like that.”
The Celtics added two more runs in their half of the third, compliments of two Vikings miscues, that made it 4-1.
“The third inning was huge,” St. Laurence coach Pete Lotus said. “We had second and third and no outs. In that situation we should push across a couple of runs, or at least one. Then we made a couple of errors. The third inning was a big part of the game.”
Travis put the game out of reach in the fourth. After DeFilippis and Kutsulis registered two-out singles, Travis, an Indiana recruit, hammered a 1-and-0 offering over the left-center field fence to stretch the lead to 7-1.
St. Laurence didn’t go down without a fight. A single by Mike Kornacker (2-for-4) in the fifth cut the gap to 7-2 and a Celtics error accounted for another run in the sixth that made it 7-3. Other than Kornacker, the only other Vikings to record hits were Kevin Smith and Kyle Wood. St. Laurence stranded 12 runners.
Trowbridge got the win, scattering three hits and striking out eight over 42/3 innings. Collin McEnery finished up with 21/3 innings of one-run ball. Chimera took the loss, allowing seven runs on 10 hits and striking out four. Kornacker pitched two scoreless innings in relief.
No. 2 St. Rita 11, Loyola 8: Rick Faron’s two-run double aided host St. Rita (17-2, 5-1) in the Catholic League Blue. Stefano Belmonte had a solo homer and two RBI for the Mustangs.
Lockport 10, No. 8 Homewood-Flossmoor 7: Brenden Dunleavy had two hits and two RBI for visiting Lockport (10-7, 4-1) in the SouthWest Suburban Blue. H-F dropped to 11-3, 2-2.
No. 9 Marian Catholic 3, Benet 2: Brett Lilek’s two-run double propelled visiting Marian Catholic (12-7, 1-3) in the East Suburban Catholic Conference.
Reavis 9, Shepard 4: Alex Morales (2-for-2) had two stolen bases and three runs for host Reavis (10-7, 7-2) in the five-inning South Suburban Red tilt.
Lincoln-Way Central 2, Joliet Central 1: Matt Doherty (2-2) pitched a two-hitter and struck out nine for host Lincoln-Way Central (9-8-1, 1-3) in the SouthWest Suburban Blue.
Richards 12, Oak Lawn 2: Jake Beiriger smacked a two-run double and Jim Augle (3-for-3, 2 RBI) tacked on a solo homer for host Richards (14-4, 8-1) in the five-inning South Suburban Red contest. Tyler Mastalerz (4-0) allowed five hits in pitching a complete game for the Bulldogs.
Evergreen Park 8, Argo 7: Tom Martin’s two-out single in the bottom of the seventh scored Josh Venhuizen with the deciding run for Evergreen Park (8-8, 4-4). Martin (3-for-4) finished with three RBI, while teammate Jon Ottenfeld (4-for-4) had two runs and two RBI in the South Suburban Red.
Chicago Christian 16, Momence 5: Luke Coffman and Brian Deckinga each had three RBI for visiting Chicago Christian (18-4).
Contributing: Josh Krockey
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