May 03--Providence, according to its coach, laid "two big stinkers."
It was the week of April 6, and the defending Class 4A baseball state champions were beaten on consecutive days by Lincoln-Way Central and Naperville Central.
Mark Smith, in his ninth season as Providence coach, expected it. After his Celtics beat Joliet Catholic 17-12 in a hard-fought WJOL Tournament title game, Smith sensed a lull coming. He told his team to be ready, to keep the momentum up. For a squad with 22 juniors and six seniors -- including only ten returning players from last year -- it proved to be a tall task.
"You can say it until you're blue in the face, but it's like telling any teenager," Smith said Thursday. "They're like, 'Yeah, we know, Coach. Yeah, we know, Coach.'
"But since then, they've been ready to go."
After the stinker week, Providence turned a corner. The Celtics won 10 of their next 11 contests, including an 8-0 start to Catholic League play, and vaulted back into the Prep Baseball Report's top five in the Illinois rankings.
On Saturday, Providence knocked off MaxPreps.com's No. 1-ranked team in the country, St. Rita. The Celtics, who avenged a loss earlier in the week to the previously undefeated Mustangs, are all the way back.
"When we come to play, when we're excited and have the energy and really come to play, I don't think there are many teams that can beat us," junior infielder Jackson Stulas said.
Stulas and Smith point to pitching as the biggest surprise of the season. An expected weakness has become an undeniable strength. The Celtics believe in the arm depth -- "I'm very, very confident in our pitching," Stulas said -- which allows the offense to relax. The staff's ERA was 2.94 through Friday.
Senior ace Justin Hunniford, whom Smith called "a phenomenal leader," only knows winning. The Tribune's 2014 Football Player of the Year quarterbacked the Celtics to the 7A state title just four months after playing a key role in the baseball one.
Through Friday, the pitcher/infielder had an on-base percentage of .583 and an OPS of 1.222, with 17 RBIs and 11 runs scored in only 14 games played. His ERA is 1.04 in 27 innings pitched.
"I try to tell the younger guys to stay calm in stressful situations, that's key," Hunniford said. "You can't get too amped up in a game, can't get overly excited in situations and not try to do too much."
The team is beginning to heed Hunniford and Smith's advice. In Wednesday's loss to Catholic League Blue rival St. Rita, the Celtics allowed an early three-run lead to slip away and lost on a walk-off single. Providence rushed out to a six-run lead Saturday and made it last, eventually winning 6-4.
The concepts of consistency, focus and mental readiness will determine Providence's playoff fate.
"A team that has 22 juniors on it, I don't think they grasped these concepts (early on)," Smith said. "Like, 'These teams know who you are, and they're gonna come at you.' Those kids haven't quite grasped it. but now that we're in the heart of the season, more than halfway through, they're starting to."
