By Drake Skleba
Senior Writer

Saturday June 7 Sectional Final Roundup 

Providence 9, No. 1 Lincoln-Way North 3
After struggling through a fifth-place finish in the mighty Chicago Catholic League Blue Division, the Daily Roundup had a pleasant conversation with Providence head coach Mark Smith at the recently completed Steven M. Bajenski Memorial Tournament in Crestwood. “We are so close. Every one of our 14 losses have been to state-ranked St.Rita, St.Laurence, Mount Carmel, Brother Rice, Joliet Catholic Academy, Minooka and Lockport. The other loss was to the No.1 team in Indiana, Andrean,” said Smith “If we can just play just a little bit better, we can make some noise in the upcoming Class 4A tournament.”

Smith had his prophecy fulfilled, big-time in Tinley Park on Saturday as the 25-14 Celtics routed No.1 Lincoln-Way North (28-3) and punched their ticket to the Class 4A University of Illinois Supersectional on Monday. Providence will take on Edwardsville (32-7) at 4:30.

Kent State-bound Dylan Rosa allowed three runs and three hits in his stellar 6.1 innings on the mound to pick up the win. Rosa (3-2) fanned eight and walked five. Brent Villasenor retired the final two Phoenix batters to close out the Celtic victory. Phil Kunsa went deep for the 10th and 11th time this season and drove home four Celtic runs. Rosa helped himself with a single and two RBI at the plate.

South Elgin 8, Batavia 3
South Elgin (25-10) continued the Storm’s amazing postseason run, destroying the 5th-ranked Bulldogs in Schaumburg. The Storm spotted Batavia a 3-1 lead after two innings and then went on to score the last seven runs in the contest. Justin Bryski singled, hammered a solo shot and scored three runs to lead the Storm attack. Antonio Danesi singled and plated a pair of runs for the Storm while Dane Toppel chipped in with three singles. Tyler Brown slammed the door on the Bulldogs, retiring all nine Batavia (32-4-1) batters he would face to nail down the save for Storm starting and winning pitcher Max Keough.  

Metamora 8, Peoria Notre Dame 4
The Metamora Redbirds are back. After losing junior All-Stater Trent Johnson to a devastating injury in April and struggling through a non-championship Mid-Illini Conference season, head coach Eric Stone’s Redbirds have turned it on in the post-season.  

Metamora (25-12) opened up an 8-0 lead on the Fighting Irish and cruised to the Sectional Championship at Veterans Park in Peru. Peyton Biernot singled and hammered a solo blast while Jacob Guede added a single and two RBI to lead the Redbird attack. Thursday’s winning pitcher sophomore Geremy Guerrero added two singles and two RBI while Drew Beenders chipped in with a single and an RBI. Sophomore Alex Lewis (7-1) went the distance allowing four unearned runs and seven hits to pick up the win on the mound.

All the reports from Saturday's Class 4A and 3A sectional finals ...