As a Mount Carmel freshman, Notre Dame recruit Connor Elenteny hit five St. Rita batters in a row. ‘No idea.’
As a freshman, Connor Elenteny was a three-sport athlete at Mount Carmel who did not quite envision himself being a star in any of the three. Three years later, the senior right-hander is headed to Notre Dame as one of the state’s top pitchers. “I remember freshman year, I was playing three sports and I was kind of like OK at everything,” Elenteny said.
“I was on the freshman team for baseball. A lot of the other seniors on this team were on varsity or JV as freshmen that year. “I was just throwing as hard as I could and I had no idea where it was going.
I would not have expected to be where I’m at. I mean, freshman year against St. Rita, I plunked five hitters in a row.
” Elenteny’s final start against the Mustangs certainty went better than that first one. He threw 5 2/3 strong innings Wednesday afternoon, striking out five and allowing two runs to lead the host Caravan to a 6-2 Catholic League Blue victory over St. Rita in Chicago.
Lewis recruit Jake Matise worked a perfect final 1 1/3 innings to earn the save for Mount Carmel (22-10, 10-4). Wake Forest commit TJ McQuillan singled and scored two runs, while Illinois recruit Anthony Chavez and Cylis Rainey each had RBI singles. Davenport-bound senior catcher Mario Medina knew Elenteny wouldn’t need much run support.