Growing up, Nate O’Donnell was branded a “pitcher only” by many who saw his baseball future entirely on the mound.
When O’Donnell started his high school career at Providence, coach Mark Smith was confident he had a pitching star but didn’t have high expectations for him offensively.
O’Donnell, though, never gave up on hitting. Now, he’s become a powerhouse with the bat.
“People used to call me more of a ‘PO’ when I was younger,” O’Donnell said. “I really started hitting more when I was 13 or 14 years old. I put in a lot of time with my hitting coach and I just focused on it a lot.
“I put in a lot of work and got better every year. This is probably the best year I’ve had so far.”
The result was a monster performance as O’Donnell, a junior, led the Celtics to the Class 4A state championship.
O’Donnell, the 2024 Daily Southtown Baseball Player of the Year, hit .441 with 43 runs, 11 doubles, 11 home runs and 55 RBIs in 39 games.
“I don’t think that was anything we really expected,” Smith said of O’Donnell’s offensive production. “He’s an extremely hard worker. He gets after it every day. He’s a strong kid. He’s just a very good baseball player. He’s been on varsity since freshman year, and he just keeps showing remarkable improvement every year.
“He put it all together this year and had himself quite a season.”
On the mound, the right-handed O’Donnell went 2-3 with a 3.29 ERA and 23 strikeouts in 34 innings. He saved his best pitching performances for the postseason.
In the regional championship game against Homewood-Flossmoor, O’Donnell threw seven shutout innings, allowing just three hits as the host Celtics escaped with a 2-1 win in eight innings.
In the Crestwood Supersectional, he held Mount Carmel to two runs and three hits over six innings in a 3-2 victory. O’Donnell said he loved pitching in front of an overflow crowd at Ozinga Field.
“That was surreal just with the atmosphere of the game,” he said. “It was really cool. I love pitching in front of that many people.”
O’Donnell, who wears No. 6, then finished off Providence’s record sixth state title by getting the final three outs to record the save in a 4-1 win over Conant in the state championship game.
“Our athletic director Doug Ternik said, ‘No. 6 was on the mound for No. 6,’” Smith said. “I didn’t think about that, and I said, ‘That’s pretty cool.’”
O’Donnell hit just two home runs as a sophomore, but he turned himself into the ideal batter in the middle of the order this season, ripping 11 homers.
“I’ve always hit the ball pretty hard, but mechanically, I was able to elevate the ball more this year and pull some more balls,” he said. “I worked out a lot over the offseason to get stronger so more balls would find gaps or leave the park.”
O’Donnell’s teammates, like junior catcher Enzo Infelise, knew they could count on him to drive them in.
“Nate’s become a great hitter,” Infelise said. “He comes through all the time for us. He’s had so many big hits and it’s been fun to watch.”
O’Donnell’s dad, Chris, played baseball at Chicago State.
While O’Donnell plans to follow in his father’s footsteps as a Division I baseball player, where that will happen is something that has recently been thrown into question.
He had long been committed to Creighton but decided to reopen his recruitment after Blue Jays coach Ed Servais announced he will retire following the 2025 season.
“I’m just looking to play somewhere good, with nice coaches and good academics, and hopefully somewhere that wants me as a two-way player,” O’Donnell said.
O’Donnell is already looking forward to attempting to lead the Celtics to back-to-back state titles next spring.
But he’ll enjoy this one first.
“It feels great to be a state champion,” O’Donnell said. “I feel like it’s sunk in a little bit, but I think it’s probably not going to totally sink in completely until we’re back in school and see the banner.
“I think that’s going to be pretty surreal.”
Steve Millar , 2024-06-14 17:08:09
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