By Drake Skleba

 

NAPERVILLE- In his first start of the season - and his first start since late April last year -Naperville Central senior Marc Mantucca was nearly unhittable. The 5-foot-10, 185-pound hard-throwing right-hander allowed one hit and one unearned run to lead the top-ranked Redhawks to a 5-1 win over No. 19 Providence (6-4) on Thursday.

 

Mantucca (1-0) threw only 61 pitches in his five-inning stint. He struck out four and walked one. Senior right-hander Tim Roetter closed out the game with two shutout innings of relief, allowing one hit and striking out one.

 

“I had command of my top two pitches,” said Mantucca. “I kept my pitch count low and threw strikes. I thought I pitched pretty well. It felt good to start. I haven’t started a game since April 28 of last year, against Wheaton-Warrenville South.”

 

Naperville Central seniors first baseman Shane Conlon and rightfielder Bobby Czarnowski took care of the offense for the 7-0 Redhawks.

 

Trailing 1-0 in the bottom of the third, the Redhawks had been stymied by Providence ace left-handed junior Matt Trowbridge (3IP 3R 3H 3ER 4K 4BB). Trowbridge (2-1) proceeded to walk Naperville Central senior catcher Ryan Walsh and senior second baseman Matt Soria on eight pitches.

 

After a strikeout, and a double steal by courtesy runner sophomore Ian Lewandowski and Soria, the future Kansas State Wildcat Conlon struck. Conlon ripped a line shot to center, scoring both Lewandowski and Soria and the Redhawks had their first lead at 2-1. After senior centerfielder Matt Cmiel singled and the second out of the inning, the red-hot Czarnowski laced a clutch two-out RBI single and the ‘Hawks extended their lead to 3-1.

 

“Providence is a great team and Trowbridge is a great pitcher,” said Conlon. “I missed a change-up and then hit a fastball. We really were ready to play today. Mark pitched great for us today.”

 

In the fifth, the Redhawks added two insurance runs, highlighted by a Czarnowski RBI double.

 

“I have been really swinging the bat well this spring,” said Czarnowski. “I played basketball this winter, and I was concerned as to how well I would start the season. We faced a quality pitcher today and with the target on our back we are sure we are going to see quality pitching all year.”

 

Providence was led by their red-hot hitting junior third baseman Sam Travis, who had the lone hit off Mantucca and walked in three trips. Pinch-hitter junior Sean Carroll had the other Celtic hit off Roetter.

 

“We are a very average baseball team right now,” said Providence head coach Mark Smith. “We didn’t play with any fire today.”

 

The top-ranked Redhawks will be at Hoffman Estates on Friday. On Saturday, the Redhawks travel to Lincolnshire to meet No. 6 Stevenson at 2 p.m. The game will be the Prep Baseball Report Game of the Day.

 

“This was a quality win over a quality team,” said Naperville Central head coach Bill Seiple. “Marc Mantucca did a great job on the mound for us. Timmy Roetter finished up very well for us, too. Shane got a big hit for us and I thought Bobby Czarnowski, who has hit great for us all spring, his clutch two-out hit in the third was a key hit.”