No. 1 Providence, Magallones roll to semifinals

By  Drake Skleba

MINOOKA - Providence Catholic senior RHP Brandon Magallones fired 5 ? innings of three-hit shutout ball as the top-ranked Celtics advanced to an 11:30 Saturday WJOL Area Invite semifinal date, with No. 8 Lemont, by defeating Plainfield Central 4-2.

The WJOL Area Invite semifinal will be a rematch of March 23rd?s 6-1 Providence win over Lemont in New Lenox. Lemont punched its ticket to the semifinals with a 10-0, six-inning win over Minooka, on Friday. Lemont?s 6-foot-4 University of Illinois-bound RHP Josh Ferry fired a six-inning perfect game.

Providence (4-0) scored single runs in the first three innings to open up a 3-0 lead on Plainfield Central (0-4).The Celtics received RBI singles from University of Indiana-bound 1B Collin McEnery in the first and third innings.

?I have been out with a finger injury,? said McEnery. ?I had a good  game for having been out for awhile. I am reallly looking forward to tomorrow?s game with Lemont and playing at Silver Cross tomorrow.

Senior LF Nick Gould hit a solo shot to left against the wind, in the second.

?I just went up there looking to make contact and I hit the ball good,? said Gould.

Magallones (1-0) was brilliant in shutting down the Wildcats. The future Northwestern Wildcat allowed three hits and struck out 11 in his 93-pitch performance. Numerous MLB scouts were in attendance and Magallones consistently lit up their radar guns in the 87-89 mph range. Magallones touched the 91 mph level on two pitches.

?I thought I pitched well,?  said Magallones. ?The two-out RBIs early in the game gave me a lot of confidence to pitch well. I threw the ball hard, very good, considering how cold it is.?

Providence added a fourth run on a wild pitch in the top of the seventh. Against the Celtic bullpen, Plainfield Central rallied for two runs, and scored without the benefit of a hit, on consecutive wild pitches. Celtic closer, senior Austin Vazquez, struck out the final Wildcat hitter, with the winning run at the plate to pick up the save for Magallones.

?I am unhappy we didn?t throw strikes in the seventh inning, said Providence head coach Mark Smith. ?We lost a number of games in that manner last year.?

Smith continued: ?We played very good defense, Mags (Magallones) was super and we had some clutch hits. We have a lot of work to do to get better.?

Providence senior catcher Dan Potempa had a great day behind the plate, gunning down two base-runners and hammering a pair of doubles at the plate.

?We played outstanding today,? said Potempa. ?Brandon Magallones is an amazing pitcher. I am sure glad he is my teammate. I hit the ball well today but I can always do better.?

Plainfield Central was led by junior Mark DeYoung (1-for-2) and Joe Sparacio (1-for-2). The Wildcats will meet Minooka (4-2) at Minooka in a WJOL Area Invite Consolation Semifinal at 9 am. The winner will play tomorrow?s Plainfield South (1-2)-Joliet Central (1-4) winner for fifth place at Silver Cross Field in Joliet at 2:15. The losers will meet at noon at Silver Cross for seventh place.

In other WJOL quarterfinal action at Lockport, Lockport (4-0) defeated Joliet Central 8-5 and Joliet Catholic Academy, on senior Kevin Cunningham?s two-run game-ending home run in the bottom of the seventh, stunning Painfield South 4-3.

Lockport (4-0) will meet Joliet Catholic Academy (2-1) in a championship semifinal at 11:30 Saturday. The PBR will be in Lockport for the rivalry game. The winner will move on to Silver Cross, for a championship game matchup with the Providence-Lemont game winner at 7:30. The losers will meet for third place at 5:15 at Silver Cross. The PBR will be at Silver Cross for the WJOL finale at 7:30 Saturday night.