Senior second baseman Aidan Healy thought his baseball career was over when he collided with one of his Lincoln-Way West teammates while chasing a pop-up during the last week of the regular season.
Healy was told he would likely not be able to return for the playoffs.
“I broke my chin and my jaw, and it pushed four of my teeth back, and they had to relocate them,” Healy said. “They said I was going to be out. But it healed up really quick, and I was able to come back.
“The stitches just got out a couple days ago. I’m fighting back.”
Healy came through in a big way Thursday. He doubled twice, reached base in all four of his plate appearances and scored two times as the second-seeded Warriors held off sixth-seeded Providence 12-10 in a wild Class 4A Lockport Sectional semifinal.
“It’s been an emotional roller coaster,” Healy said. “I came back, and I had a rough regional. (Thursday) felt good.”
Jacob Morris went 2-for-3 with three RBIs, Kaleb Wilkey was 2-for-3 and scored four runs and Brandon Pritchard drove in three runs for Lincoln-Way West (24-6-1), which will take on top-seeded Lockport (34-3) in the sectional championship game at 10 a.m. Saturday.
The Warriors have never won a sectional title in baseball.
Nate O’Donnell went 3-for-4 with a three-run home run, and Tyler Young finished 3-for-4 with a home run and three RBIs for Providence (21-16).
After the Celtics scored three runs in the top of the second to take a 4-2 lead, Healy led off the bottom of the inning with a double.
Lincoln-Way West went on to score five times in the inning to take the lead for good.
“That was a huge double after Providence scored three on us,” Lincoln-Way West coach Jake Zajc said. “Aidan is the heartbeat of our team.
“He’s our glue guy. He’s just a fierce competitor. We talk about our identity as a team, and he develops that for us. I think all the games we played without him we lost, and as soon as he came back, we got back on track again.”
Healy is a three-sport athlete who is committed to golf at Illinois Wesleyan. He was also on the bowling team.
“In all three sports, it’s the same in the Warriors organization,” Healy said. “We always fight.”
Providence used three Division I recruits on the mound, but none could stop the Warriors, who scored in each of the first five innings.
Morris had an RBI double in the first, drove in a run with a single in the second and produced a sacrifice fly in the fourth.
“After that double in the first inning, I had a good feeling about it,” Morris said. “Once we kept slapping balls and they kept dropping in, we knew it was game over.”
The Celtics, though, did not go down easily. Down 10-5 in the fifth, O’Donnell — a freshman — hit a three-run homer.
Young, who led off the game with a home run, doubled in the sixth and scored on a two-run homer by Gavin Gomez to cut the deficit to 12-10.
“We did what a Providence team does,” Celtics coach Mark Smith said. “We didn’t quit. We kept coming back. I’m proud of our guys. Unfortunately, we just couldn’t stop them. I tip my cap to them because every time we did something, they answered.
“We had a lot of quality arms that we threw, so that’s why I say great job for Lincoln-Way West because they earned it.”
The Warriors completed the sweep of New Lenox rivals after beating Lincoln-Way Central in the regional final.
“We own our city,” Morris said.
Steve Millar is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.