St. Rita Rides Washilewski Past Providence Catholic

April 22, 2017

By Drew Locascio
Illinois Scouting Director

No. 7 St. Rita 2, No. 19 Providence Catholic 0

NEW LENOX, IL – No. 7 St. Rita rode their ace, senior left-handed pitcher, Steven Washilewski, to a 2-0 win over No. 19 Providence Catholic on Saturday morning.

Washilewski, a Kansas commit, twirled a complete game, seven inning, shutout for the Mustangs. He was extremely efficient throughout, throwing 70% of his 97 pitches for strikes and not walking a single batter. Washilewski, scattered seven hits and struck out six Celtic batters throughout. He pounded the zone with a fastball that sat anywhere from 83-86 mph, touching 87 at one point. The separator for the talented southpaw on this day was his slider. He threw it in any count and routinely got ahead of hitters throwing it for strike one. He also used it as a put-away pitch, getting swings-and-misses and plenty of weak contact.

St. Rita (15-3) got on the board with one run in the third inning. Charlie Rodriguez hit a one-out double and Matt Verdun drove him in with a single through the left-side of the infield. The run in the third was all of the scoring the game saw until the Mustangs tacked on one more in the top of the seventh. In the seventh, Brendan Carrane led off with a walk and would later score on a balk call while at third base. The balk came with two outs and runners at the corners for the Mustangs. Washilewski came back out for the seventh and made quick work of the Celtic offense to preserve the 2-0 win and the complete game shutout.

The best chances for the Providence offense came in the first and sixth innings. The Celtics loaded the bases with one out in both frames but were unable to score. Washilewski retired the next two batters in each circumstance, three of them via the strikeout.

Providence Catholic (11-7) had their ace on the mound as well, in sophomore, right-handed pitcher, Bryce Barnett. The Arizona State commit, went 6.1 innings, scattered five hits, two earned runs (one of which came on the balk when he was out of the game), struck out seven and walked three. Barnett’s fastball worked in the mid 80’s and he had his patented slider working throughout.

Dylan Gorski and Dakota Kotowski each had two hits to lead the way for the Providence Catholic offense.

Carrane went 1-for-1 with three walks and a run scored while Verdun went 2-for-4 with an RBI to pace the Mustangs.

For more in-depth notes from the game - and all other games that we cover - visit the Illinois Scout Blog later.