Among the two dozen or so Division I prospects in the inaugural four-game Stevie’s Way Tournament Challenge at Standard Bank Stadium in Crestwood on Sunday, Brandon Magallones and Kevin DeFilippis stood out.
The same can be said for their Providence Celtics.
DeFilippis, a second baseman, is headed to Notre Dame. Shortstop Joe Houlihan will play for Central Michigan. First and third basemen Collin McEnerny and Sam Travis will remain teammates at Indiana.
When either fireballing Magallones (Northwestern) or ace lefty Matt Trowbridge (Central Michigan) is on the mound, the Celtics seem all but unbeatable.
When neither is on the mound, McEnerny, fellow senior Dan Wetzel (St. Xavier) or one of their junior prospects — Zak Kutsulis and Cristian Ochoa — is.
Competing in the Catholic League Blue means six games against No. 2 Mount Carmel, No. 4 St. Rita and No. 8 St. Laurence. Yet if ever there was a Catholic Blue team that was equipped to go undefeated, No. 1 Providence (14-0) may be it.
“I don’t think so,” Providence coach Mark Smith said. “I mean, anything is possible in baseball. If any team did that, I would tip my cap and say you’ve got a heck of a baseball team. It is not something that even I would expect. The fact that we went 16-2 in the league last year, that was a big surprise.”
With everybody back from last season, high expectations were understandable, as was the No. 18 ranking in USA Today’s initial Super 25.
The Celtics have lived up to the hype thus far.
Of course, the remaining schedule is a bear.
They’ll face dominant pitchers such as John Kravetz (Illinois) and Jeff Boehm (Kentucky) of Mount Carmel, Joey Filomeno (Louisville) and Eddie De La Riva (Purdue) of St. Rita, Kyle Wood (Purdue) of St. Laurence, Ryan Koziol (Arizona) of Brother Rice, Sean Renzi of No. 5 Plainfield North and last Sunday’s opponent, Brett Lilek of Marian Catholic.
Lilek, the state’s No. 1-ranked junior by Prep Baseball Report, did not get pounded by the Celtics, but their success in small-balling Marian Catholic into submission should continue to serve them well if and when Travis (.537, 5 HRs, 23 RBIs through Sunday) and Iowa Central Community College-bound catcher Dan Potempa (.516, 13 RBIs) stop producing in the middle of the lineup.
DeFilippis (.543, 10 SB) singled, stole second and scored in each of his first three at-bats, Houlihan stole second after a bunt single and scored and Potempa walked, stole and scored. Providence crossed home plate six times in the first three innings off Lilek and won 9-1.
Magallones, meanwhile, struck out eight of the first 10 men he faced, carried a no-hitter into the fifth and allowed a total of two hits while striking out 12 and walking none.
Magallones (18 1/3 innings, 7 H, 30 SO, 7 BB) and Trowbridge (0.64 ERA) have turned in similar performances all season, and the pitching and defense behind them have been strong.
“They are solid,” Marian Catholic coach Phil Wail said. “That is the word I like to use. I am not going to say they are world beaters. They are very solid top to bottom.”
The group has been together four years, most of it on varsity for three.
The strong Catholic League showing as juniors was only part of the 2010 story. The Celtics went 10-10 in nonconference play and failed to advance out of the regional round of the playoffs.
DeFilippis acknowledged that there’s pressure to live up to the expectations he and his teammates have for themselves, but talking about winning streaks or an undefeated season does not exist.
“It is in the back of our minds, but we’re playing one game at a time,” DeFilippis said. “Down the road maybe we’ll start taking a look at that, but right now it’s one game at a time.
“There is a little bit of pressure on us. Last year we didn’t live up to our potential. This year is a little bit of a different atmosphere. Practice is run different. Anything can happen. We’re just going to be as focused as we can.”
