Providence too much for Neuqua Valley
Neuqua Valley’s baseball team played well enough to beat a lot of teams.
Providence, however, is not like a lot of teams.
The powerful Celtics struggled early but surged late to edge Neuqua Valley 5-2 in Thursday’s Class 4A Neuqua Valley sectional semifinals.
Second-seeded Providence (34-3) will face No. 5 Downers Grove South (25-13) in the sectional title game at 10 a.m. Saturday.
“I told our guys they did some very good things against a very good team,” said Wildcats coach Robin Renner. “Our team gave us a chance to win, and as a coach that’s all you can ask.”
That chance came right at the start when No. 3 Neuqua Valley (25-11) burst to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first off Northwestern-bound Providence pitcher Brandon Magallones. Nick Iarrobino and Tanner Giesel had back-to-back RBI singles to stake the Wildcats to the early lead.
Neuqua Valley starter Nick Blackburn pitched well in keeping the potent Providence lineup in check through the first two innings.
“They just came out and punched us in the mouth a little bit,” said Providence coach Mark Smith. “They came out and swung the bats, and it might have been a good thing for us to wake us up a little bit.”
Providence’s lineup didn’t stay quiet for long. The Celtics tied it in the bottom of the third when 2 runs scored on a single by Sam Travis and an error.
Kevin DeFilippis put Providence ahead 3-2 in the fifth with an RBI single, and the Celtics added 2 runs in the sixth on an infield single by Dominic Olszta and a hit batter with the bases loaded.
Magallones, meanwhile, settled down after the rough first inning. He struck out 11 and allowed only two runners to reach second base in the final six innings.
“My coaches just told me to calm down, I was a little bit hyped up,” Magallones said. “But you’ve got to gear down and just get out there and hit your spots.”
After Nick Oleskowicz, Iarrobino and Giesel started the game with singles, Magallones allowed just one more hit on Iarrobino’s fifth-inning double.
“You have to play almost a perfect game to beat a team like this,” Renner said. “They were just better than us today.”