Local roundup
Junior’s homers help Providence advance
to 3A sectional final
Emily Pilon had quite a day for Providence on Wednesday.
The junior second baseman hit two home runs and a triple, walked and had seven RBIs.
On defense, she speared a line drive and turned a double play.
Pilon stood tall for the Celtics in their 12-2, six-inning win over Tinley Park in a Class 3A Oak Forest Sectional semifinal game.
Providence (23-11) will play Bishop McNamara at 11 a.m. Saturday to decide the sectional championship.
Pilon, a St. Leo recruit, came into the day with a .284 average, three home runs and 16 RBIs. Her numbers, to say the least, jumped dramatically.
“This was a big one,” Pilon said. “It was … I’m speechless. I just hit the ball and did what I could to get my team where it needed to be.”
Pilon actually enjoyed talking more about the moment in the game when she was yelled at by Celtics coach Jay Biesterfeld.
It happened in the top of the fourth inning when teammate Lex Leighton walked to load the bases with two outs. Pilon got into trouble when she wandered off of third base after ball four and was tagged out in a rundown.
“OK, so I thought the bases were (already) loaded,” Pilon said later. “I was like, ‘OK, bases are loaded. I’m getting in there.’ ”
After the play, Biesterfeld whipped his cap off and gave Pilon an earful. Then he gave her a pat on the back and sent her back out on the field.
“You know what?” Biesterfeld said later with a smile. “That was an uncharacteristic play for Emily. I got on her, but then I told her, ‘Listen. I’m not mad at you anymore. Let it go and start over.’ ”
Pilon next came up with two on and two outs in the fifth and the Celtics clinging to a 3-2 lead. She sliced an opposite-field liner to right for a two-run triple.
“After I hit the triple I turned to coach and said, ‘Coach, the bases aren’t loaded. I’m not going anywhere,’ ” Pilon said, smiling. “Coach had told me to shake it off and put it in the past. I struggle with that sometimes, but I put it in the past this time.”
Teammate Teagan Sopczak followed the triple with a home run. Pilon’s three-run homer in the sixth put Providence in front 12-2.
Celtics pitcher Kailey Zych (11-4) retired the side in the bottom of the sixth to bring the game to an early end. The senior right-hander finished with a four-hitter.
Ashley Kennedy was 2-for-3 with a double for Tinley Park (24-4). Emily Gorski also drove in a run.
Titans coach Wendy Podbielniak saw good things looming for the four juniors, seven freshmen and two sophomores on her roster.
“The kids are young and they went above and beyond our expectations,” Podbielniak said. “They set the bar now. This year was about learning. Next year will be about winning.”
Marina Esparza hit a two-run homer for Central (23-7) and Brittany Schultz had a two-run double.
Baseball
Ryan Kaup went 4-for-4 with two runs and four RBIs for Providence (20-17), the three-time defending state champion. Dakota Kotowski added a two-run homer.
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