By Drake Skleba

CHICAGO - After being outslugged in New Lenox on Thursday, No. 8 St. Rita scored four times in the second and tacked on five more runs in the third and coasted to a 10-3 thumping of No. 2 Providence on Saturday in a Chicago Catholic League Blue battle. Providence had beaten the Mustangs (18-3, 6-2) 12-8  in the first game of the series.

St. Rita junior RHP Eddie De La Riva (9-0) scattered 11 hits and allowed three runs, but battled for a complete-game win over the Celtics (18-2, 7-2).

?I battled on the mound today,? said De La Riva, a Purdue recruit. ?My breaking ball was my best pitch today. It was great to get the win today over Providence.?

St. Rita took advantage of control problems from Providence starting pitcher Brandon Magallones (3-2) and a meltdown by the Celtic defense to plate four unearned runs and jump out to a 4-0 lead. A dropped fly ball in center, two bases-loaded walks to Mustang sophomore RF Connor McLain and junior CF TJ Verdun, and a huge error on a ball hit by Mustang SS Zack Soria, led to the four Mustang runs. Mustang Air Force recruit Brian Sicher (2-for-4) had the only hit in the Mustang second.

?It was awesome getting the job done against the top-ranked team? said McLain. ?I thought I played very well today. I did my job as the leadoff-man and got on base.?

 

In the third, the Mustang bats unloaded on Magallones and Celtic reliever Austin Vazquez. Mustang senior RF Sean Kaliz (2-for-4, RBI) had an RBI single. McLain ripped a two-run double and a third run scored on the play when the throw in was dropped. Verdun (0-for-1, 2BB, 2RBI) squeezed in the final run of the inning on a beautifully executed suicide squeeze.

?We came out strong and got the job done against Providence after the loss on Thursday,? said Verdun. ?I had a very good day at the plate today. I had a good approach against a very good pitcher.?

Meanwhile, De La Riva kept pitching out of trouble. Providence broke through for a pair of runs in the fifth. Celtic senior 1B Collin McEnery had an RBI single and senior LF Dom Olzsta drove home second Celtic run in the inning on a sac-fly. Soria made the defensive play of them game at shortstop when he robbed Providence senior Matt Trowbridge (2-for-3) of  a run-scoring single to close out the inning.

St. Rita No. 8 hitter Jake Thome had a pair of hits for the Mustangs and junior 3B Stefano Belmonte took two for the team via the HBP rout and had a single in his two official at-bats.

?That?s a great team over there (Providence) that we beat today,? said Sicher ?I was looking fastball away and got the job done at the plate today. Eddie really worked hard on the mound for us today against a great hitting team. We have a big series coming up next week with St. Laurence.  We?d like to win two. It?s really up for grabs in the Catholic Blue.?

Providence, which left a dozen men on base, had contributions from senior DH Nick Gould (3-for-3) and senior 3B Sam Travis (2-for-4, 2B).

?We were a little too geeked at Providence on Thursday,? said St. Rita head coach Mike Zunica. ?We were much more focused today and we really played solid defense. We have had a blue-collar approach all year and that was shown by our top two hitters today, Connor (McClain) and TJ (Verdun).?

Catholic Blue Notes:  In the Catholic Blue on Saturday, No. 4 Mt. Carmel (19-2; 7-1) defeated No. 6 St. Laurence 2-0 at Haggerty Field in Chicago. Caravan junior RHP Tyler Laurisch fired a five-hit shutout at the hard-hitting Vikings. St. Laurence (18-5; 8-2) tough-luck loser was senior RHP Charlie Naso, who only gave up three hits?Brother Rice (9-7; 5-2) junior RHP Ryan Koziol fired a three-hit white-wash of Loyola 2-0 and the Crusaders completed the sweeep beating the Ramblers 3-2 in game two.