L-W North, Providence Learning a Lot About Their Rosters in Summer Ball

There were a lot of people who were hoping for a matchup between Providence Catholic and Lincoln-Way North during this past spring’s IHSA Class 4A finals weekend.

Both teams had outstanding spring seasons, with Providence finishing as the state runner-up and Lincoln-Way North winning a regional title and posting a remarkable 30-4 record before getting upended by Lincoln-Way East in a Sandburg Sectional semifinal contest.

The teams met Monday night in Frankfort for a second-round game in the 2011 IHSBCA Phil Lawler Summer Classic. While the rosters certainly have changed—Providence no longer can pencil Sam Travis in the middle of the lineup and hand the ball to Brandon Magallones or Matt Trowbridge, and Lincoln-Way North no longer can throw Jake Harper or put A.J. Neufeld and Alex Eaton in the middle of the batting order—the intensity and excitement was still there.

The teams

In a game in which seemingly every heroic play was trumped by another, it was Phoenix leadoff man Corey Krupcke who was the last man standing. The Phoenix were down to their last out when Krupcke delivered the game-winning hit to left field.

“Baseball is a crazy game,” Krupcke said. “There’s going to be innings and stretches where things go bad for you, but you just have to have the heart to come up big.”

After grounding out in the bottom of the first inning, Krupcke reached base in his final six plate appearances.

“He came up with a big hit for us,” Lincoln-Way North coach Joe Skarbek said. “A lot of guys came up big. How many big hits did Ryan Pelleck come up with? And running the bases and playing defense. Jake Troike had some big hits and Carter Bialka scorched the ball. We’re on the right track and we beat a very good Providence program. We’re continuing to get better every day.”

The Phoenix simply haven’t missed a beat this summer, even though they graduated eight seniors in May. Through Monday, their spring and summer teams have combined to go 44-5.

“The summer has been great and we’re figuring out who is going to step up into some roles,” Skarbek said. “Guys have shown they’re varsity-ready. We’ve had some nice pressure-packed games, we’ve come from behind against a good Minooka team and got a walkoff home run against H-F, who is a very good team.”

One of the biggest strengths for the Phoenix has been their pitching, and junior Mike Miller shined on Monday, yielding just a single run in his five innings.

“All summer our pitching has been very good, and that’s good to know going into the spring,” Skarbek said. “Our top six guys—which is five seniors and Miller—they each got at least 15 innings this past spring, which was a pressure season too, so we’re pretty steady there.”

At one point during a break in the action Monday night, the public address announcer apologized to the Celtics fans on hand because he didn’t have an updated roster for the current Celtics squad. Instead, he had a leftover from the spring season, which featured plenty of ink crossing out former standout players who received diplomas in May.

While center fielder Brady Wilkin and starting pitcher Zak Kutsulis will be the only returning starters for the Celtics next spring, coach Mark Smith is excited about what lies ahead.

“My questions have been answered,” Smith said. “I have a pretty good idea of where the holes are and what I have on the team, and that’s what summer is about. We have some answers and I’m excited for spring.”

While he no longer has the luxury of handing the ball to Magallones, Trowbridge and Collin McEnery, Smith likes what the Celtics have in the pitching department.

“I think we have three to four solid pitchers for us, if not a fifth one,” Smith said. “We’ll have a very good infield and some team speed. We lost a lot from last year, but I don’t think we’re dead yet. We have a nice group coming back.”

Smith anticipates that he’ll have another senior-heavy team last year. While most of these seniors may not have played much last season, that wasn’t because of a lack of talent, but simply because the Celtics were loaded up and down the lineup last year with another great senior group.

“These kids were good enough to play other places and were just stuck behind a great senior class,” Smith said. “I hate bringing up last spring again because it’s over, but we were good last summer and the guys became great because of the work they did in the fall and winter.

“If these guys picked up anything from that group, I hope it’s the work ethic in the offseason because they’re good now, but they need the desire to become great.”

The Celtics made a couple of great comebacks on Monday. Trailing 4-1 in the sixth inning, Providence got a solo home run from Kenny King to open the frame and then a clutch, two-out, two-run single from No. 9 hitter Nick Sanders to draw even at 4-4. With the Celtics trailing 7-4 in the seventh inning, Branden Boggetto was hit by a pitch and Zak Kutsulis walked before Kenny King delivered an RBI double.

The Celtics tied it at 7-7 on Sam Tidaback’s RBI grounder that shortstop Josh Handzik couldn’t handle, allowing a second run to cross the plate.

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