Northwest/ State tournament preview

By Marty Maciaszek

mmaciaszek@dailyherald.com

Class 4A

Where: Silver Cross Field, Joliet

When: Friday: semifinals, 3 p.m. and 5 p.m.; Saturday: third-place game (3 p.m.), championship game (5 p.m.)

Providence (36-3) vs. Prospect (26-8), 3 p.m.

How they got here: Providence beat Metea Valley 6-1 and Benet 3-0 to win the Benet regional; beat Neuqua Valley 5-2 and Downers Grove South 12-3 to win the Neuqua sectional; beat Edwardsville 13-3 to win the Champaign supersectional at the University of Illinois and extend its winning streak to 18 games.

Prospect beat Waukegan 11-1 (6 inn.) and Fremd 5-4 to win the Fremd regional; beat St. Viator 5-3 and Warren 7-6 (9 inn.) to win the Barrington sectional; beat Glenbrook North 8-2 to win the Rockford RiverHawks supersectional and extend its winning streak to six games.

Tournament history: Prospect is making its first state tournament appearance. Providence is making its sixth tourney trip and won Class A titles in 1978 and 1982. It lost its Elite Eight opener in 1995 under current New Trier coach Mike Napoleon.

Coaches: Prospect’s Ross Giusti is 303-196 in 15 years at his alma mater with seven 20-win seasons and only one losing season. Providence’s Mark Smith is 126-57 in five years at his alma mater and has won at least 20 games every season.

On the offensive: Providence has scored in double figures 18 times and had 10 wins end early by the 10-run rule. Indiana-bound 3B Sam Travis (.504, 16 2B, 15 HR, 72 RBI) was drafted in the 40th round by the Reds and leads the offense with C Dan Potempa (.482, 14 2B, 9 HR, 45 RBI). Notre Dame-bound 2B Kevin DeFilippis (.465, 13 2B, 31 RBI) and Central Michigan-bound SS Joe Houlihan (.349, 9 2B, 6 HR, 31 RBI) get things going at the top of the order. Indiana-bound 1B Collin McEnery (.344, 4 HR, 25 RBI), Zak Kutsulis (.400, 4 HR, 16 RBI), OF Dominic Olszta (.371, 24 RBI), Central Michigan-bound Matt Trowbridge (.357) and Brady Wilkin (.420) don’t allow for any breathers.

Prospect’s top five has been above or near .400 all year for an offense that doesn’t have huge homer totals but has plenty of extra-base gap power. Senior SS Luke Bergman (.409, 6 HR, 23 RBI) and senior 2B Matt Molini (.396, 11 2B, 18 RBI) set it up for senior CF Peter Bonahoom (.404, 15 2B, 6 HR, 29 RBI), junior Jack Landwehr (.453, 14 2B, 3 HR, 43 RBI) and senior 1B Brian Bauer (.430, 13 2B, 28 RBI). But there aren’t easy outs behind them in senior C Kurt Donner (.329, 17 RBI), junior 3B-DH Brad Gerdes (.306, 2 HR, 13 RBI), senior LF Steve Dazzo (.261) and junior RF Shane Joyce (.325).

On the mound: Providence has relied on its Division I duo of 6-3 Northwestern-bound righty Brandon Magallones (10-2, 2.48 ERA, 78 Ks, 28 BBs in 59.1 IP) and 5-9 lefty Trowbridge (8-0, 1.76, 73 Ks, 45 BBs in 47.2 IP). Magallones pitched in Monday’s supersectional so it would be Trowbridge’s turn against Prospect’s all-righty lineup. McEnery is 3-0 and leads a deep bullpen.

Prospect has also gone with its tandem of Landwehr (13-2, 2.50, 106 Ks, 11 BBs in 78.1 IP) and Rose-Hulman recruit and senior righty Ben Menich (7-1, 3.24, 67 Ks, 26 BBs in 67 IP). Landwehr threw 125 pitches in the sectional semifinal and 118 on three day’s rest in the supersectional and Menich pitched well in a complete-game regional final against Fremd and wasn’t hit hard as he pitched into the seventh against Warren. Also in reserve are Dazzo, who won the sectional final in relief, and Donner (4-0, 2.55).

On the defensive: Providence overwhelmed Edwardsville with a 9-run first in the supersectional but committed an uncharacteristic 7 errors to keep the game from ending early. Prospect’s defense has been a strength all year as it has only 4 errors during its current winning streak.

The final word: “Any time you’re 36-3 you are pretty solid in all phases of the game. We know what we’re up against and we know they play good baseball.” — Giusti.

Lyons (35-4) vs. Mt. Carmel (34-7), 5 p.m.

Outlook: Mt. Carmel also comes out of the tough Chicago Catholic Blue with Providence and has plenty of power led by Indiana-bound OF Chris Sujka (.388, 12 HR, 41 RBI), junior 1B Sam Kint (.442, 12 HR, 53 RBI) and Kentucky-bound OF Jeff Boehm (.391, 6 HR, 32 RBI). Illinois-bound righty John Kravetz (11-3, 2.06, 88 Ks in 78.1 IP) leads the way on the mound for the Caravan, who took second in Class AA in 2005.

Perennial power Lyons looks for its second title under coach George Ushela (2003) and third in its history. It has also finished second twice and third and fourth once. The Lions have a pair of aces in Penn-bound Connor Cuff (10-0, 1.02, 90 Ks in 62 IP) and Zach Remijas (10-0, 0.61, 60 Ks in 57.1 IP). Cuff can also help himself (.402, 8 HR, 35 RBI) in a lineup that includes Valparaiso-bound SS Spencer Mahoney (.453, 21 2B) and Illinois State-bound 1B Brian Rodemoyer (.400, 10 HR, 43 RBI).

Class 3A

Where: Silver Cross Field, Joliet

When: Friday: semifinals, 10 a.m. and noon; Saturday: third-place game (9 a.m.), championship game (11 a.m.).

Oak Forest (26-7) vs. Nazareth (34-5), 10 a.m.

Outlook: Oak Forest is powered by Kansas State-bound OF Tim Barry (.379, 12 HR, 32 RBI), the state’s career leader in homers and RBI, and junior RHP Kyle Funkhouser (11-0, 0.83, 130 Ks in 75.2 IP). Nazareth finally broke through after two straight supersectional losses behind SS Michael Barajas (.403, 11 HR, 51 RBI), Miami (Ohio) recruit Ryan Powers (.367, 7 HR, 29 RBI) and the pitching duo of Dominic Purpura (10-1, 1.73) and Ryan Marske (9-0, 1.58).

Kaneland (24-10) vs. Waterloo (32-3), noon

Outlook: Senior IF-P Bobby Thorson (.406, 8 HR, 48 RBI; 6-3, 0.71, 71 Ks in 68.2 IP) leads Kaneland to its first state tourney as it overcame a 2-4 start and losing 6 of 7 in late April and early May. Downstate Waterloo started the season 14-0 and has now won 14 in a row again behind OF Garrett Schlecht (.500, 7 HR, 38 RBI), who was drafted in the ninth round by the Cubs and has a scholarship to Middle Tennessee State.