Baseball: Providence denies Conant first state championship
Conant’s magical season came to a crashing end Saturday.
The Cougars made two key errors and mustered three hits as Providence beat Conant 4-1 in the Class 4A state title game at Duly Heath and Care Field in Joliet on Saturday.
The loss ended Conant’s 14-game winning streak. It was a streak that had the Cougars playing near flawless baseball defensively.
“It was a dream,” Conant coach Derek Fivelson said. “We came together and we had a strong senior class. Coach (Greg) Grana and I just needed to lead it in the right direction and these guys would take care of the rest.”
Both errors led to all four Providence runs and helped the Celtics win their first state baseball title since 2016 and sixth in school history
“It is so hard to get here,” said Providence coach Mark Smith, whose teams won three consecutive titles from 2024-2016.
“I am so proud of this group. We played great baseball in the postseason. Defensively, we were really good. We got timely hitting and took advantage of some mistakes.”
Conant (30-8) was seeking to become the first MSL school to win a state tithe since Schaumburg won it in 1997. Barrington’s title in 1986 was the only other state baseball championship won by an MSL school.
Bryce Loeger was the hard luck losing pitcher for Conant. He surrendered just four hits, but three of those came in the fourth inning when Providence scored three times.
“Not many words,” Loeger said. “It was a good run. But it’s baseball. It is going to happen. Everybody makes errors. But what we do best is that we don’t point fingers. We pick each other up.”
Loeger got himself into some early jams. He pitched his way out of a couple, but his defense let him down at other times.
Providence (33-8) loaded the bases against Loeger in the top of the first. But the Dartmouth commit beared down after a mound visit by assistant coach Grana and Loeger struck out the next Celtics batters on three pitches to end the threat.
The Celtics had a better outcome the following inning. A walk, a sacrifice bunt and a throwing error gave Providence a 1-0 lead in the second.
Providence broke the game open in the fourth thanks to another Conant error.
With two outs, the Celtics strung together a pair of singles. Loeger then got a fly ball to short right field. However, the ball was dropped and two runs scampered home. To make matters worse, the Celtics’ Nate O’Donnell singled to center to make it 4-0.
“Those are plays we have made in the last month,” Fivelson said. “Sometimes it just doesn’t go your way.”
Conant had a scoring opportunity in the fifth. Cooper Hanson got an infield bloop double in the fourth. He was able to get as far as third. But Conant couldn’t get him home.
Matt Maize, who has been red-hot in the playoffs, gave Conant some late hope. Maize drilled a homer to right to cut the margin to 4-1. But that’s as close as it would get.
“He threw me fastball and I saw it well and gave it a ride,” said Maize, who had three homers in the playoffs and five for the season.
“I was hoping it would light a spark. It didn’t. It is what it is.”
It was the best season on Conant history. They set a school record for wins, won their first MSL title since 1999, their first sectional and supersectional title. And their second place finish was their best ever.
“Playing with these boys is a blessing,” said Jake Parpet, who was a four-year starter at catcher. “I am going to miss all of them. They mean so much to me. I love them all.”
Fivelson said the experience at state was a memorable one.
“Every coach deserves this opportunity,” Fivelson said. “I am just thrilled that this group of guys were able to give me that experience.”