Baseball: Sam Tidabeck’s homer turns tide against New Trier

Updated: May 4, 2012 9:18PM

Sam Tidaback sprinted around first base and then second base before he put on the brakes.

The Providence senior figured he had an easy double to start the top of the third inning Friday.

When Tidaback turned around, he saw the umpire circling his finger for the home run, his first of the season.

“I didn’t think it went that far,” he said of the shot down the right-field line at North Park University. “It was surprising, and I had no idea. I guess I didn’t really get to enjoy it.”

Tidaback’s solo shot snapped a scoreless tie and sent the Celtics to a 5-1 win over New Trier.

“I got a pitch I could handle, and it went my way,” Tidaback said.

Zak Kutsulis added a solo home run to lead off the fourth, and the No. 4 Celtics (20-6) added three more in the sixth off New Trier ace Nick Hedge, who suffered his first loss of the season.

“In the beginning of the year, we had a couple of bumps,” Tidaback said. “We’re starting to gel as a team, and the bats are coming around. We think can have a successful future.”

The Trevians (14-8) threatened in the sixth by loading the bases with no outs, but shortstop Branden Boggetto snared a line drive by Chris Hall to turn a double play. Celtics starter Yianni Pavlopoulos followed with a strikeout to end the inning.

New Trier got its first two on base again in the bottom of the seventh, but the Trevians could only push one across the plate.

“That kid made a great play,” New Trier coach Mike Napoleon said of Boggetto’s grab over his head behind second base. “That’s the way it is. We were a little snake-bit. We didn’t do a good job of situational hitting.”

The left-handed Hedge, who will pitch at Penn State next season, came into Friday’s game 7-0 and with an 0.65 ERA in 43 innings. He retired the first six batters he faced, three by strikeout, before Providence broke through in the third.

Christian Carr finished with two hits for the Trevians, who lost for the third time in a row.

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