This time Driscoll beats IVC

Driscoll rose to the occasion for a sweet taste of revenge.

In a rematch of the 2006 Class A baseball semifinals -- and in front of a lively crowd reminiscent of that game -- the Highlanders held off Illinois Valley Central 5-4 at the Driscoll/Benedictine Small School Invitational Saturday night in Lisle.

Driscoll (11-3), which lost that semifinal game 6-4 and watched IVC (14-3) go on to win the state title, handled every bit of pressure applied by the Grey Ghosts.

Anthony Campanella (4-1) was the complete-game winning pitcher, settling down after a rough first inning and relying on the solid middle infield of David Schwabe and Rick Divito that turned three double plays.

"We're going to hit the ball, but the teams that win championships play defense," Campanella said. "That's what we've got to do. Sometimes I got into jams and I just relied on my defense."

The Highlanders burst to a 5-2 lead with their own pressure, mainly from Schwabe's hitting. His third-inning bunt single drove in the tying run, and a throwing error on the play allowed another run to score that put Driscoll ahead to stay at 3-2.

IVC's Jordan Parr led off the top of the sixth inning with a home run, narrowing the gap to 5-3. Three straight hits and an RBI groundout by Justin Parr made it 5-4. An intentional walk loaded the bases, but Campanella escaped the jam on a fielder's choice to Schwabe.

"Every time we needed a groundball, Campanella gave us one," Schwabe said. "We did the job today. Usually we struggle on those, but today we did a better job."

Billy Seiler's 2-run triple staked the Grey Ghosts to their 2-0 first-inning lead. Driscoll moved ahead 4-2 in the fourth inning on Campanella's run-scoring groundout.

After Steve Schwabe reached on a bunt single to start the bottom of the fifth, David Schwabe drove him home with a booming double to left-center field.

Campanella struck out five and allowed 9 hits and 5 walks to edge IVC starter Drasen Johnson (3-1), who pitched 4¿ innings, and junior ace Chris Razo, who closed with 1½ scoreless relief innings on 10 pitches.

"For the most part tonight I thought we played fantastic defense," said Driscoll coach Sean Bieterman. "What a big difference it makes in terms of closing an inning. Up the middle we were terrific."