Villanova's slam sinks No. 1 Providence

By Drake Skleba

BURBANK - No. 13 St. Laurence fired the first missile in the battle for the Chicago Catholic League Blue Division championship on Saturday in beautiful downtown Burbank. The missile was provided by Viking senior catcher Bryan Villanova.

With top-ranked Providence clinging to a 5-4 lead in the bottom of the sixth, Villanova stepped into the batter?s box to face Celtic relief pitcher junior Cristian Ochoa. Ochoa had just relieved Celtic Northwestern-bound RHP Brandon Magallones (3-1) with the bases loaded and one out.

Villanova greeted Ochoa with a towering drive to centerfield.

?I thought I just popped it up and sprinted around towards second,? said Villanova.

Villanova?s drive kept going and going and left the premises over the fence and the home-standing Vikings had an 8-5 lead. University of Illinois-bound RHP Charlie Naso (4-0) slammed the door on the top-ranked Celtics? heart of their batting order to secure St. Laurence?s 8-5 thrilling victory over previously undefeated Providence.

?I was around second base when I saw it go out,? said Villanova, who finished the game with six RBI. ?It was an incredible feeling. I went up there hoping not to strike out. Charlie (Naso) pitched his butt off and I wanted to get a hit. I hit a fastball and it was great to beat No. 1 Providence.?

?I pitched well and battled through a couple of errors to keep my team in it,? said Naso. ?Bryan Villanova was awesome today. I know Magallones so it was fun to get two hits off of him today. We?re ready for round two in New Lenox on Monday.?

Providence (14-1; 4-1) had just reclaimed the lead from the Vikings (17-3; 7-0) in the top of the sixth. A Viking error to start the inning opened the door for the Celtics. Central Michigan-bound SS Joe Houlihan ripped a double, his second RBI hit of the game, to tie the game at 3. Senior LF Dom Olszta hit a sac-fly to right and reached base when the Viking right-fielder dropped the ball, and the Celtics had a 4-3 lead. Notre Dame-bound Celtic 2B Kevin DeFilippis? infield single plated Houlihan and the Celts led 5-3.

The game-winning Viking half of the sixth was ignited by Viking sophomore SS Kevin Smith, who singled. After one out, Viking No. 8 hitter, Mike Solofra, who homered in the third, had a super at-bat and battled Magallones for a walk. Then All-State running back Steve Fiorella laced a Magallones fastball to center, scoring Smith to bring the Vikes within one run at 5-4. Junior 1B Brandon Mallder walked to load the bases, which concluded Magallones? day.

?It was amazing the way we fought though the bad inning and came away with a big W,? said Solofra. ?I stayed within my approach and got a good pitch to hit and hit out.?

Villanova?s heroics were next and the Vikings had a leg up on the defending Catholic Blue champions from Providence.

Providence took a 2-1 lead when junior CF Zak Kutsulis hammered a shot over the right field fence.

Villanova (2-for-4, 2B, HR, 6 RBI) reclaimed the lead for the Vikes when he delivered a two-out, two run double in the fifth.

?My first two at bats were terrible. My last two were pretty good.?

The two Catholic Blue powers will meet at Tom Dedin Field in New Lenox at 4:30 on Monday. The PBR will be in New Lenox for Round 2.

?I am incredibly impressed with the way we hung in there and won this game.? said St. Laurence head coach Pete Lotus. ?You can?t say enough about Bryan (Villanova). My brother?s (St. Laurence pitching coach Adam Lotus?) wife, who is in labor, wasn?t here so Bryan had to call the pitches for us as well as getting those huge hits for us. My No. 9 hitter Steve Fiorella has been ?Mr. Clutch? for us the two years he has been part of the program.?