The team to beat? Clearly, it’s Providence

Updated: May 23, 2011 8:15PM

It enters the postseason as the prohibitive favorite, which should surprise no one, considering it’s won 30 of 33 regular-season games against a slate of stellar competition.

The pressure of being tabbed the SouthtownStar’s preseason No. 1 baseball team didn’t have an adverse effect on Providence.

Where others have slipped and had a free-fall from the top spot in previous years, the Celtics pretty much produced a wire-to-wire run, demonstrating a business-as-usual approach day in, day out. It didn’t matter if it was a major showdown in the Catholic League Blue or a nonconference game.

Don’t expect that demeanor to change, even under the glare of the postseason spotlight.

“If they’re (players) nervous, they’ve hid it very well,” Providence coach Mark Smith said. “This year is different than past years in a sense that the kids are more confident. Not in an arrogant way. This is the third year on the varsity for most of them. They know they have the ability to make a long run.”

The jaunt begins Wednesday, with a regional semifinal against either Oswego or Metea Valley.

Defeating either one of those teams is pretty much a foregone conclusion, even though I strongly would recommend the Celtics attack each opponent with the intensity of a Catholic Blue showdown.

The fact Providence was denied the No. 1 seed in the Neuqua Valley Sectional is comical. That honor went to Plainfield North, only because the IHSA demanded sectional seeds be submitted by May 4. Let it be known that when the two teams played days after seeds were announced, the Celtics drubbed North by nearly three touchdowns.

And I don’t care if North was relying on its No. 4 pitcher to tame the Celtics’ mighty bats. Simply by way of competition, Providence deserved the No. 1 seed.

The Celtics are a team without a weakness. They can hit for average (.382 as a team) and power (41 homers), They can pitch (2.52 ERA) and play defense (.961 fielding percentage).

And the fact Celtics pitchers can overpower hitters is a major plus. Providence’s staff has struck out 248 over 2022/3 innings. Translation: One of every three outs recorded is by way of a strikeout, which alleviates pressure on the defense to execute a play.

The biggest concern surrounding the Celtics was the pitching staff’s inability to consistently find the strike zone. The bouts of wildness have been resolved, according to Smith.

The 1-2 punch of Brandon Magallones and Matt Trowbridge is lethal, providing a righty-lefty combination that would make Mike Tyson envious.

“The thing I like most is that our pitching staff has been through this before,” Smith said. “Magallones and Trowbridge are our two guys who will start, and we have great guys ready in relief who are also experienced.

“Our inability to throw strikes early in the season has gone away. We’ve been pounding the strike zone.”

And the offense has been pounding the baseball. The Celtics average 8.5 runs per game, a big total when you consider the competition they’ve played. Sam Travis has had a monster season, hitting around .500 with 13 home runs and 56 RBI. The Celtics have swung the bats up and down the order, with Dan Potempa, Kevin DeFilippes and Nick Gould producing super seasons.

“We can hit and catch the ball, too,” Smith said.

It should help the Celtics’ cause competing against relatively unknown teams in the Neuqua Valley Sectional.

Oh, sure, Providence has played some of these teams, such as Plainfield North and Lockport. But it doesn’t have the ring of familiarity as say the Mount Carmel or Sandburg sectionals.

“Pick your poison,” Smith said. “Go west to Naperville or east to the Lincoln-Ways. It’s kind of fun to get a chance to play someone you’ve never had a chance to play. It could be an advantage to play somebody different. They may have scouted you two or three times but somebody on our team might have had an ‘off’ day and they don’t think they have to worry about him.

“Playing teams you have played, they know how to pitch to guys. We’ll just show up and see what happens.”

Baseball is a funny game. All it takes is a dominating pitcher on the opposing team, one bad bounce, one miscue — mental or physical — to decide the outcome of a game. There also are the great equalizers Mother Nature can provide: wind and cold.

“We’re in a good place,” Smith said. “If we play up to our ability, there’s no reason we shouldn’t be standing tall in the middle of June.

“Will it happen? Who knows. But we feel confident.”

So do I.

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