Bella Cortes’ single in bottom of the ninth lifts Providence past Pontiac to a Class 3A state berth

BLOOMINGTON — Get the game into extra innings and give Bella Cortes a chance to win it.

It seems to be a pretty good plan for Providence Catholic’s softball team.

For the second straight game, that’s exactly what transpired as the Celtics rallied from a three-run deficit Monday to defeat defending Class 3A state champion Pontiac 5-4 in nine innings in the Illinois Wesleyan Supersectional.

It is the first state appearance for the Celtics since 2018 when they took third place.

They will play St. Laurence at 10 a.m. Friday in the first semifinal at the Louisville Slugger Complex in Peoria.

In Friday’s Ottawa Sectional title game, Cortes hit a deep fly to left and Ella Kucala came in to score when the throw to get her at third got away. Monday’s result was less chaotic, but every bit as satisfying.

With the game tied at 4 through 8½ innings, Providence’s Olivia Vittori led off the bottom of the ninth with a single and Reagan Singler pinch-ran for her. Singler was bunted to second by winning pitcher Macie Robbins (2 for 3, double). Kucala, the lone senior in the Celtics’ starting lineup, slashed a ball back to Stanford-bound pitcher Elena Krause, but no one was covering first, allowing Kucala to reach first and Singler to go to third.

After an infield popup, Cortes lined the first pitch she saw up the middle, bringing home Singler and setting off the Celtic celebration.

“I like coming up in those situations,” Cortes said about her proficiency in tight spots. “I just wanted to put the ball in play hard and move the runners. I was lucky enough to be in the right spot two games in a row.”

The Celtics had to come from behind, which has been a bit of a theme for them this year. Pontiac scored single runs in the first, third and fifth innings to move out to a 3-0 lead and, with Krause in the circle, appeared to be in good shape.

Providence (25-11), though, had other ideas.

Robbins led off the bottom of the fifth with a double. She was bunted to third by Kucala and Bella Olszta followed with a walk and stole second. Cortes, showing signs of things to come, doubled to right-center to score both Robbins and Olszta. She then went to third on a wild pitch and scored on a sacrifice fly by Angelina Cole.

“After we scored the three runs to tie it, we felt pretty good,” Cortes said. “We knew we could hit off of [Krause] and we relaxed.”

Neither team scored again until the top of the eighth when Pontiac’s India Mattingly led off with a single and stole second. She was sacrificed to third by Olivia Lindsay and scored on a bunt by Natalie Zimmerman.

Providence answered with a run in the bottom of the eighth. With one out, Cole tripled to right, then came around to score on a double by Mia Sanfratello. Robbins got the Indians out in order in the top of the ninth, setting up Cortes’ game-winner.

“I was a little nervous at the start,” Robbins said after she limited Pontiac to seven hits and struck out five. “I was able to get into a better groove and I changed speeds and location all game. The biggest thing was to stay ahead of the hitters.

“Once we got the three runs to tie it, we had proven to ourselves that we could do it and we were confident.”

Not bad for a team that has only two seniors on the roster and one in the starting lineup. Cortes, Robbins and shortstop Aleigh Hill are freshmen, while Sanfratello, Misch and Vittori are sophomores and Cole and Olszta are juniors.

“These girls all year had moments,” Providence coach Jim Holba said. “We had a conference game where we were down 13-0 and came back to win 15-13. I’ve never seen that before. They just go out there and play. I am lucky to have a great coaching staff and a group of girls that listens to what the coaches want them to do.

“Macie did a great job pitching. She just gets tougher as the game goes on and she really had command after the fourth or fifth inning. We had a good approach at the plate and made some adjustments. We knew bunts would be important, both fielding them and laying them down, and we did a good job with both.”