Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

With a stiff wind gusting out to right field, Joliet Catholic’s Nick Dalesandro and KC Simonich aimed to make good use of the elements.

“In batting practice, we had cones set up where we couldn’t hit it to left field,” Dalesandro said. “We played with the same conditions (Monday).”

Dalesandro belted a two-run homer to right in his first at-bat and Simonich followed with a roping home run to nearly the same spot as Joliet Catholic breezed to a quick start against Providence on Tuesday.

“I got it pretty good,” Simonich said of his homer. “It was going to be a line drive any other day, but thankfully the wind was blowing out.”

Dalesandro and Simonich didn’t stop there. The duo combined to go 6-for-9 with seven RBIs as Joliet Catholic led wire-to-wire in a 12-5 victory over the visiting Celtics.

“You don’t see a guy like Nick hitting those kind of balls very often, so it lifts me up,” Simonich said. “It boosts my confidence and makes me see the ball fatter.”

Danny Belling (1-0) picked up the first win of his season in his third start with three scoreless innings for Joliet Catholic (13-2). Belling allowed three hits and recorded three strikeouts in stifling Providence (13-3), which had topped the Hilltoppers 17-12 in eight innings for the WJOL/Don Ladas Memorial Tournament championship on April 4.

“My changeup into the wind was moving a lot,” Belling said. “I didn’t want to hang one up there and have it hit 500 feet out of the park.”

Dalesandro (3-for-5, four RBIs) blasted two doubles in his next two at-bats and scored three times. Simonich followed his home run with two singles, driving in Dalesandro in the second and third innings as Joliet Catholic took an 11-0 lead into the fourth.

“I wasn’t able to play in the last game (against Providence) because I got ejected on a controversial call the game before,” Dalesandro said. “I tried to take advantage of it. I wanted to beat these guys.”

“It seems like he’s been around for 10 years,” Providence coach Mark Smith said. “At least we got him out twice.”

It looked like the game might end in the fifth, but Providence responded with a five-run fourth inning to cut Joliet Catholic’s lead 11-5.

Noah O’Brien picked up a bases loaded walk to score Brendan O’Hara to break the dry spell. Tom Kelley (1-for-4) followed with a two-run double and Jackson Stulas (1-for-4, stolen base) knocked in O’Brien and Kelley with a triple to center.

“They came out much more aggressive than we did, and I thought we came out a little flat,” Smith said. “We woke up when it was 11-0.”

It was too little too late.

Mike Quiram pitched the final three innings for Joliet Catholic and chalked up five strikeouts without surrendering a hit.

Mike Madej went 2-for-3 with a walk for Providence.

Brother Rice 4, Marist 3: Ryan Kutt’s tiebreaking solo homer in the bottom of the sixth lifted Brother Rice (16-4).

Lemont 8, Tinley Park 7: Tyler Schoell (2-for-4, 4 RBIs) hit a two-run double in the top of the seventh to spark Lemont (8-4, 6-0) in the South Suburban Blue.

Richards 11, Eisenhower 0: Angelo Smith tossed a one-hitter and struck out nine to pace Richards (8-7, 5-3 SSC Red).

Sandburg 15, Bolingbrook 10: Branden Comia (2-for-5, 3 RBIs) hit a two-run homer and Jim Roche (triple) scored four runs to key Sandburg (10-5, 1-2) in the SouthWest Suburban Blue.

Crete-Monee 8, Bloom 6: Kennedy Price’s two-run homer in the bottom of the fifth made the difference for Crete-Monee (9-8, 4-1 Southland).

Lincoln-Way West 10, Bradley-Bourbonnais 0: Trevor Dallio fanned nine in hurling a no-hitter for Lincoln-Way West (14-2, 3-0 SWSC Red).

Mount Carmel 22, Washington 0: Scott Kapers (2-for-2, 2 runs) contributed a two-run homer and four RBIs for Mount Carmel (17-1).

Andrew 13, Thornridge 0: John McLaughlin (2-for-3, 2 runs, 4 RBIs) set the tone for Andrew (7-10, 1-2 SWSC Red).

Bremen 9, T.F. South 7: Kyle Ramos (3-for-4) had two runs and two RBIs to guide Bremen (11-6, 3-3 SSC Blue).

Lockport 5, Joliet Central 0: Cole Bellair (3-hitter, 10 strikeouts) starred for Lockport (10-5, 3-0 SWSC Blue).

Illiana Christian 13, Timothy Christian 2: Jack Hillegonds (2-for-4, 2 runs, 6 RBIs) drilled a three-run homer for Illiana Christian (6-3, 3-2) in the Metro Suburban East.

More Top Picks Ratings

Homewood-Flossmoor 10, Lincoln-Way East 5: James Sheehan (3-for-3, 3 runs, 5 RBIs) slammed a pair of homers – including a grand slam – to vault Homewood-Flossmoor (10-2, 3-0 SWSC Blue).

Lincoln-Way North 21, Thornwood 4: Austin Konagel (4-for-4, 2 runs, 2 RBIs) aided Lincoln-Way North (13-5-1, 3-0 SWSC Red).

Softball

Andrew 17, Lincoln-Way North 6: Gianni Iannantone (2-for-5, 6 RBIs) belted a grand slam to power Andrew (10-4, 2-1 SWSC Red)

Joliet West 8, Lockport 6: Tara McElligott ripped a two-run double for Lockport (11-5, 2-1 SWSC Blue).

Queen of Peace 10, Lyons 7: Kayla Rybolt (2-for-4, 2 runs, 3 RBIs) was among the standouts for Queen of Peace (9-6).

Lincoln-Way Central 7, Bradley-Bourbonnais 3: Naidelyn Medina’s two-run homer spurred Lincoln-Way Central (10-6, 3-0 SSC Red).

Oak Forest 20, T.F. North 0: Kyle Powers (2-for-2, double, 3 runs) supplied a homer and five RBIs for Oak Forest (13-6, 9-0 SSC Blue).

Marist 10, Providence 4: Zariya Gonzalez (14 strikeouts) pitched a complete game and also went 2-for-4 with two RBIs for Marist (11-4-2, 7-0) in the East Suburban Catholic.

T.F South 3, Bremen 1: Devin Pieper contributed on the mound (2-hitter, 15 strikeouts) and at the plate (RBI) for T.F. South (10-4, 7-2 SSC Blue).

Richards 13, Argo 6: Winning pitcher Sara Kiziak went 3-for-4 with three runs and an RBI for Richards (7-8, 6-3 SSC Red).

Crete-Monee 11, Bloom 1: Tatyana Henderson (4 RBIs) swatted a three-run triple for Crete-Monee (5-5, 4-0 Southland).

Reavis 15, Eisenhower 3: Jacie Caldwell (2-for-5, 2 runs) doubled twice and drove in four runs to spur Reavis (9-8, 6-4 SSC Red).

Girls Soccer

Bloom 8, Rich East 1: Andi Hernandez racked up five assists to lead Bloom (5-7, 4-0 Southland).

Tinley Park 7, Argo 0: Carolina Carrillo put in four goals for Tinley Park (10-1, 5-0 SSC Blue).

Men’s Golf

GLVC Championship: Missouri-St. Louis defeated Lewis 3-2 in match play to win the title at Prairie View Golf Course in Carmel, Ind. Individual champion Alex Thode contributed two victories for the Flyers, the first of which enabled Lewis to edge Illinois Springfield 3-2 in the semifinal round.

College Softball

St. Xavier 8-6, Calumet (Ind.) 0-3: Rebeka Ferguson was 6-for-7 with four runs scored and three RBIs as St. Xavier (36-4-2, 17-0-1) won twice in the CCAC.

Malloy is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown. Freelance reporter Josh Krockey contributed to this story.