Conor Elenteny is confident in his ability, but even he didn’t see this coming.
In the Class 4A Brother Rice Sectional final on June 6, the Notre Dame-bound right-hander threw a no-hitter as Mount Carmel beat the host Crusaders 11-1.
“That team is stacked,” Elenteny said of Rice, which hit .315, averaged 7.8 runs per game and slugged 33 home runs this season. “They put a lot of good swings on balls. I think I got lucky with some good catches in the outfield. Shoutout to my fielders.
“But yeah, you can’t expect to do that. I didn’t even realize it (was a no-hitter) till the fifth.”
Elenteny struck out five of the first six batters he faced. He finished with seven strikeouts, four walks and two hit batters.
The only really difficult play for Mount Carmel’s fielders came to start the seventh when Rice’s Gavin Stanislawski hit a sinking liner to left that left fielder Cullen Winters made a nice running catch on.
Two outs later, Elenteny had his first no-hitter since … well, it’s been a long time.
“I must have been 12 when I was with the Beverly Hillbillies against the Englewood Tigers,” he said.
Caravan catcher Mario Medina said Elenteny was as sharp as his stat line suggested,.
“Everything was over the plate, everything was moving good, fastball was riding,” Medina said. “It was great.”
Mount Carmel (27-10), which won its second sectional in three years, did all of its scoring in two innings. The Caravan put up six runs in the third despite having just two hits leave the infield. Mount Carmel then broke it open with five runs in the top of the seventh.
Winters and Medina each drove in two runs for the Caravan, while Logan Fernandez had two hits, scored twice and drove in a run.
Mount Carmel won the sectional as the fourth seed, beating top-seeded and defending 3A state champ St. Laurence in the semis before ousting the second-seeded hosts in the title game.
“This team is special,” Elenteny said. “We never have that great of a regular season compared to those two. But coach (Brian) Hurry has always been telling us we’re winning the state championship by playing hard today and that’s what he’s been teaching us,
“I’ve been on the team for three years and it’s burned into my head. I know that all we prepare for is the tournament. And we’re playing our best baseball at the end of June. So what else can you ask for?”
Other sectional winners
In 4A, Sandburg (23-12) won its first sectional since 2018, beating host Lincoln-Way Central 7-1 in the final.
Dominic Diamond and Quinn Durkin drove in two runs each for the Eagles. Peter Jurcenko went 5 1/3 innings for the win, allowing one run on five hits with three walks and two strikeouts. Nick Seaman got the last five outs, fanning two.
In 3A, Nazareth (29-9) was no-hit for five innings by De La Salle freshman Vincente Amaro, but rallied to win 3-1 in its own sectional final. Landon Thome, who was named Gatorade Illinois Player of the Year earlier in the week, was 1-for-1 with two walks and two runs for the Roadrunners. Connor McKay pitched four-hit ball over six innings and struck out 10 for the win.
Amaro finished with a one-hitter, four walks and four strikeouts for De La Salle (23-16). Jaidon Hillard was 2-for-3 with a run.
At Brooks, Sully Kazee pitched a four-hitter with 12 strikeouts and two walks as St. Rita (27-12) beat Marian Catholic 6-2 in the final. Jayden Hawkins went 2-for-2 with a run and an RBI for the Mustangs, while Colin Quinn was 2-for-3 with an RBI.