St. Laurence’s Connor Marino hopes he aced two tests on a hectic Monday afternoon. He certainly passed the baseball one with flying colors.
Marino had an International Baccalaureate history exam that lasted until 4 p.m. in Burbank. The senior infielder then drove himself to Providence, where he drove in three runs after arriving after the game’s 4:30 p.m. start and coming in as a pinch hitter.
“It was a crazy day and I had to rush over here pretty quickly, but I embraced it,” Marino said. “I love playing Providence, and I always love the tough competition.
“I felt like I was able to really lock in while driving over here, and I felt like I had a good level of focus to put that test behind me and come in and play baseball.”
Marino, a Wisconsin-Stout recruit, had three of the Vikings’ 17 hits as they rolled to a 16-5 Catholic League Blue win over the Celtics in New Lenox.
Adrian Perez and Danny Donovan both went 3-for-5 with three RBIs and three runs each for St. Laurence (21-3, 7-0), which extended its winning streak to 17. Mickey Lotus finished 2-for-5 with three runs, while South Suburban College recruit Enrique Villanueva went 3-for-3 with an RBI.
John Strzechowski earned the win on the mound, allowing two earned runs in six innings. He struck out eight and allowed eight hits and two walks.
Vikings coach Pete Lotus was thrilled with the blowout win over the defending Class 4A state champions.
“I don’t know if this has ever happened for us here and we’ve been coming here a long time,” he said. “They’re a great team and you expect a tight game — and it was early on — but our guys did a great job continuing to put runs on the board and John had an outstanding outing.”
Minnesota recruit Nate O’Donnell went 2-for-3 with two doubles, two runs and an RBI for Providence (16-8, 4-2). St. Norbert commit Declan Kane added a two-run double and Sammy Atkinson finished 2-for-3 with an RBI.
Marino, meanwhile, had been penciled in to bat in his typical leadoff spot and play first base, but was scratched from the lineup once it became apparent he might arrive late.
Pete Lotus thus inserted pitcher Samuel Chin as the designed hitter in the No. 9 spot in the starting lineup, knowing someone would pinch hit for Chin in his first at-bat. The question was if Marino would be there in time.
“We were trying to figure it out because we didn’t want to waste a hitter, so we threw Samuel Chin in that No. 9 spot as the designed hitter,” Pete Lotus said. “I’ve never seen him swing a bat.”
Marino arrived in the bottom of the first inning, but he had to make a quick stop before heading to the dugout.
“The drive took about 37 minutes,” he said. “I got here and I had to go to the bathroom, but then I was ready.”
Indeed, he was. Marino walked and scored a run in his first plate appearance in the third inning. He later added three singles, three RBIs and another run.
Marino is now hitting .421 with a .505 on-base percentage, 28 runs, 21 stolen bases and 21 RBIs.
“He’s always getting on base, whether it’s getting a hit or drawing a walk, then he always steals a base,” Mickey Lotus said. “He always gets us started.”
And being in scramble mode Monday worked out just fine for Marino.
“I had a lot of time to zone in,” he said. “There weren’t the distractions like sometimes there are when you’re on the bus with the team. I was focused on driving and thinking about the game instead of, usually, I’m sleeping on the bus or doing something else.
“I felt like I was a lot more locked in for this game.”
