NEW LENOX – In a battle of two of the area’s top teams Saturday, the fate of the game fell into the hands of several unlikely performers.
Providence and Lincoln-Way West entered the game with potent offenses and established pitchers.
But in Providence’s 3-1 victory very few of those players took center stage.
Ultimately a pair of effective relief pitchers, one for each side, took control of the game.
For Providence (24-6), Shawn Krieps, who was making just his second pitching appearance of the season, snuffed out a potential Lincoln-Way West fourth-inning rally allowing just one inherited runner to score. It turned out to be the only run the Warriors (24-3) scored.
Lincoln-Way West found itself immediately in peril when starting pitcher Adam Gerl had some control issues. Two runs came across for the Celtics after the first five Providence batters reached, only one via a hit. The Warriors quickly went to the bullpen and tapped sophomore Michael Pettit, who wasn’t even initially listed on West’s roster when the game started.
He’s probably going to remain on the roster after keeping the Celtics off the scoreboard with four-plus scoreless innings of relief work.
Both teams were clearly trying to do a little patchwork in the nonconference game and both probably opened up some possibilities that hadn’t been strongly considered before.
“It’s that time of year. The seeds are in and that’s all taken care of,” Providence coach Mark Smith said. “It’s a time for us to find out what else do we got? What person can step up at this time of year? Win or lose, and it’s always nice to win, but the bottom line is trying to get our guys reps to get prepared for the sectional, which ours is a beast.”
Providence was able to capitalize off of early charity to take a 2-0 lead, both runs scored via wild pitches as the Celtics managed just one hit a single from Nate O’Donnell during the frame. It would be the last hit Providence would get until the fifth when Mitch Voltz mustered a single as Pettit did an excellent job of keeping the Celtics from getting into an offensive rhythm.
Lincoln-Way West wasn’t having many problems getting hits in the early portion of the contest but the Warriors had no luck pushing them across the plate. The Warriors got seven hits in the first four innings off of Providence starter Kyle Lipke, but none of them scored.
Lipke proved to be a little bit of a magician in regards to getting out of jams. In the first, a liner that he almost lost the handle on dropped into his glove and he doubled off a Lincoln-Way West runner at third after corralling the jumpy ball. In the third, Lincoln-Way West appeared to plate its first run on a sacrifice fly, but the Warrior runner was called out for leaving third too quickly.
Lipke’s luck ran out in the fourth as he surrendered back-to-back singles to Jacob Willis and Kaden Kopacz and left the game in favor of Kripps in a rare circumstance of a pitcher being relieved while still tossing a shutout.
Krieps nearly coaxed a double play on his first batter, and while the fielder’s choice grounder did net an out, Willis scored with Lincoln-Way West’s first and what turned out to be its last run of the day.
Most of that can be attributed to Krieps, who after issuing a one-out walk to Ian Hazelip in the fourth, would record eight consecutive outs before giving way to Enzo Infelise who closed out the Warriors in the seventh.
“I just felt really focused going out there, knew I had to do my job,” Kripps said. “I had to help the team out. All of my pitches were working well, especially my knuckle curve.”
Providence appears to have unleashed another potential weapon in Infelise out of the bullpen. Infelise, an Oklahoma commit, mostly known for his powerful bat and serving as Providence’s primary catcher, looks like a more than viable weapon as a potential closer for Providence as well.
“I’d pitched a lot before high school,” Infelise said. “But I stopped once I got to high school and had just stuck to catching. It’s fun. I’d pitched in some bullpens and an intrasquad game and it looked pretty good, so they trust me to go out there and throw strikes.”