One thing that Connor Elenteny had yet to check off his Mount Carmel bucket list was throwing a no-hitter.
But Elenteny, a senior right-hander who is headed to Notre Dame, does remember the last time he actually accomplished that feat.
“I was 12 years old and I was pitching for the Beverly Hillbillies,” Elenteny said. “It was against the West Englewood Tigers and I think they had two girls on the team.
“So, facing Brother Rice, this was a step up from that.”
Elenteny took that leap with no problems, dominating one of the state’s best offenses Saturday.
He no-hit the host Crusaders, pitching around four walks and two hit batters to lift Mount Carmel to an 11-1 win in the Class 4A Brother Rice Sectional championship game in Chicago.
Cullen Winters went 2-for-4 with a run and two RBIs for fourth-seeded Mount Carmel (29-10), while Triton commit Logan Fernandez finished 2-for-3 with two runs and an RBI and Davenport recruit Mario Medina added two RBIs.
The Caravan, who won the program’s ninth sectional title and second in the last three years, will take on Sandburg (23-12) at 7 p.m. Monday in the Crestwood Supersectional at Ozinga Field.
“We never have a great regular season compared to those two,” Elenteny said of Brother Rice and St. Laurence. “But coach (Brian) Hurry has always been telling us we’re winning the state championship by playing hard today.
“I know that all we prepare for is the tournament and we’re playing our best baseball in June. What else could you ask for?”
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for second-seeded Brother Rice (28-11).That came in the fourth inning, when Elenteny also hit two batters. His pitch count was getting high and a reliever was up in the bullpen.
No worries.
“Every game, I know I’m going to hit some adversity,” Elenteny said. “I’m expecting it. It’s not going to be smooth sailing for seven innings. I just had to get over that hump and then it was smooth sailing from there.”
Mount Carmel scored six runs in the third inning and tacked on five in the top of the seventh. During the latter outburst, Elenteny — even though he was up to about 90 pitches on a hot day — went to throw in the bullpen to stay loose.
“If I ever have to go in the bullpen that means our offense is lighting it up, so that’s a good sign,” Elenteny said. “I’m running on so much caffeine and ibuprofen that I can’t even feel my arm, so it’s not a problem. It’s all adrenaline at that point.”
With some help from a nice running catch by Winters in left field to start the seventh inning, Elenteny finished off the no-hitter.
Both his catcher, Medina, and Hurry, however, confirmed they didn’t realize what Elenteny had done until later.
“I didn’t know it was a no-hitter until the game ended,” Medina said. “When I found out, I was going crazy. It’s amazing.
“I’ve been catching Connor for a long time and seen all the improvement he’s made. It’s great to share this with him.”
Elenteny improved his record to 7-1 with a 3.05 ERA — and one absolute masterpiece.
“Hearing that was a no-hitter, that’s pretty amazing,” Hurry said. “That’s a very good team over there and they’re very tough to get out.”
Brother Rice has four high-major Division I recruits in its lineup. So, did Elenteny ever see a no-hitter coming?
“Heck no,” he said. “That team is stacked. They put a lot of good swings on balls. I got lucky on some of them. Some good catches in the outfield. Shoutout to my fielders.
“You can’t expect to do that.”