By Matt Yarber

TINLEY PARK – No.22 Marist spotted No. 3 Providence a 4-0 lead in the first inning and roared back to stun the Celtics, 9-5 in a Class 4A Andrew Sectional semifinal game Wednesday. University of Notre Dame-bound LHP Mike Hearne (9-4) allowed four first-inning runs to the Catholic Blue champions and then settled down to fire a 10-hitter at the Celtics.

It seemed as though Providence (28-8) had figured out Hearne in the first inning, jumping on the board quickly with a six-hit, four-run inning.  Zak Kutsulis hit a towering bomb over the right field fence, which was called foul, but could have just as easily been called fair, and changed the momentum of the game. But Mike Hearne battled through the inning, facing all nine batters.  He then set down the next 18 of 23 batters, getting 11 fly ball outs (13 in the game), 2 line outs, and 3 Ks.

Providence was more than charitable on Wednesday. Celtic pitchers walked 10 Redhawk batters and hit three more. The normally solid Celtic defense imploded and committed four errors.

In the top of the sixth, Marist senior SS Ryan Meyer’s clutch RBI single put the ‘Hawks (27-11) up for good at 5-4. Marist would tack on four-more runs in the sixth to put the game away.

Senior Jim Carroll had a big two-run single for Marist, and junior Conor Funk had a run-scoring single as well.

Scouting Notes:
* Providence right-hander David Hearne, who’s a cousin of Mike and is heading to Notre Dame as well, was sitting 87-89 mph touched 90 once , later innings was 84-85 mph. 4 1/3 IP,  4 H, 4 bb, 2 hbp, 5 ks.

* Mike Hearne was sitting 81-84, hit 85. 7 IP, 10 H, 1 BB, 3 ks. He also went 1-for-1, with 2 walks and scored two runs.

* Marist junior Cody Bohanek is one to watch. He is athletic and had several good at-bats. He impressed starting the game with a double to left center field and hitting the ball hard in his other bat bats.