Wrap: Highlanders waltz to victory

Another postseason game for Driscoll, another easy Highlanders victory.

Driscoll's baseball team racked up another 12 runs Thursday afternoon, downing Holy Trinity 12-2 in six innings and setting up a rematch with Walther Lutheran on Saturday, this time for the sectional title.

The Highlanders (23-8) have crossed the plate 31 times in just three postseason games, showing no signs of slowing down in the process.

"We are very focused on what we do. We've played good teams, but I think it's a product of us playing well at the right time," Driscoll coach Sean Bieterman said. "We can score a lot of runs, we run the bases really well, and if we can close the door defensively and do the job on the mound, we're a pretty tough team to beat."

Driscoll scored five times in the bottom of the second inning to take an early 6-0 lead. Shortstop David Schwabe's single to center field scored 2 runs before catcher Adam Davis lined a double to the left-field corner, scoring Schwabe from second base.

The Tigers scored 2 runs in the top of the third to cut Driscoll's lead to 6-2, but the Highlanders came right back with 2 third-inning runs of their own on a nice hustle play. With runners on second and third and one out, third baseman David Schwabe laid down a suicide squeeze. Mark Doroba never stopped running from second base, beating the throw home on a bang-bang play to give Schwabe a pair of RBI.

Driscoll's 8 runs in three innings gave starter Anthony Campanella more than enough support, as did the pair of nifty double plays turned in behind him.

According to Campanella (7-4), the key to his performance lay in commanding his slower pitches.

"Lately I've had problems getting control of my off-speed stuff, but today I was feeling pretty good," he said. "Once I get my off-speed stuff working, I know I can just unleash my fastball and let it go."

Driscoll knows what it's getting Saturday morning against Walther Lutheran. The Highlanders defeated Walther 4-3 on April 3, and Driscoll will once again face Broncos ace Steven Easter.

Campanella, though, prefers to focus more on the way his team is playing rather than who's occupying the opposite dugout.

"We have one goal in mind, and that's the state championship," Campanella said. "If we play our best baseball, nothing will stop us."

-- Matthew McClarey

Bartlett 8, Glenbard West 3:ŒAs far as timely hits go, Bartlett's Ryan Schrader couldn't have been more timely.

The Hawks shortstop's grand slam wasn't short of run production either.

Schrader broke a 2-2 tie when he jacked a 1-1 fastball to dead center and Glenbard West never recovered as No. 1 seeded Bartlett took a 8-3 victory in a semifinal of the Class 4A Geneva regional.

"It was a nice shot," said Schrader, who hit 3 solo shots in the Hawks' regular-season finale Saturday. "He wasn't throwing curves. He was throwing fastballs down the middle."

Glenbard West (19-16) had tied the game with a pair of runs in the top of the fourth, but pitcher Blake O'Brien found himself with the bases loaded. Tucker Erickson singled, George Tintera and Ryan Walker both walked to juice the bases for Schrader.

The senior got a good look at the ball and took the game into his own hands, driving the hard shot.

"Ryan has been hitting the ball all year," Bartlett coach Rocco Marinucci said. "And lately it's been carrying a little bit. He worked hard in the weight room in the off-season."

Glenbard West did scrape up a run in the fifth when Brian Emanuel drove in Jesse Condie, who reached base on error to make it 6-3.

But again Schrader went to the plate with the bases loaded in the bottom half of the inning, with similar results.

The approach was a little different.

Eric Orrison, who had come in relief for O'Brien, allowed the bases loaded with an error, walk and single. Kyle Burden scored on an botched pickoff play and a wild pitch brought Tintera home.

"We walked a couple, you can't walk then bottom of the lineup and face the top of the lineup and expect to keep getting out of it," Hilltoppers coach Brian Wojtun said. "They did a nice job of swinging the bats."

Bartlett (18-9) will now face regional host Geneva at 11 a.m. Saturday for the regional championship. The Hawks will look for their offense to continue to flow as it did Thursday.

Bartlett finished with 9 hits, Schrader going 2-for-4, with 4 RBI and 2 runs scored.

"I've been practicing swinging, before games, after games," Schrader said. "My teams was looking for me to lift them up. They put the runners on for me."

Mike Derby (6-2) picked up the victory going 5 innings allowing 2 earned runs off of 4 hits. Kevin Carmody earned the save allowing just 1 hit and 0 runs in 2 innings of work.

-- Matt Stacionis

St. Charles East 7, Willowbrook 2:ŒIt's important to come ready to play because baseball games can be won or lost in the first inning.

St. Charles East senior catcher Steve Schenck drove the third pitch of the game over the left-field fence to fuel a 3-run first, and that turned out to be all of the offensive support senior left-hander Tyler Deetjen would need during the Saints' 7-2 Class 4A regional semifinal victory over Willowbrook in Wheaton.

Schenck, who took over as the Saints' leadoff hitter midway through the season, got the game started on a positive note for the visitors with his first-inning home run that came on a low inside pitch.

"I've been working a lot with coach (Gary) Spratt in the cages on low inside pitches," said Schenck, who added a seventh-inning double while going 3-for-4. "I don't try to hit for much power -- I just try to hit line drives and get on base."

After Schenck's second home run of the season, Johnathan Erickson and Mike Hoscheit singled and eventually scored on RBI groundouts from Zach Scott and Tom Lollino, respectively.

"You couldn't ask for anything more out of a first inning -- getting 3 runs and putting a little pressure on them," said Saints coach Mark Foulkes. "We were fortunate enough to find some pitches to drive in the first (inning)."

The Saints added a pair of unearned runs in the third to up their lead to 5-0, and Deetjen (5-2) fired 1-hit ball over the first four innings before the seventh-seeded Warriors (20-16) fought back.

Jordan Grevis' single, sandwiched between walks to Andy Wilhoit and Dean Whiteside, loaded the bases for pinch-hitter Brian Hennig, whose 2-run, fifth-inning single narrowed the gap to 5-2.

But the Warriors were unable to get any closer, thanks in part to first baseman Andy Grunewald's stop of a hard-hit grounder with runners on first and third in the fifth.

"If we shoot the ball down the line there, we score two runs for sure and now it's a different game," said Willowbrook coach Steve Gilliam. "But that's baseball."

Willowbrook also left the bases loaded in the sixth, as Deetjen recorded a called-third strike to end the threat. The southpaw fanned four and walked three.

"I've really spent the last week working on my off-speed pitches," Deetjen said. "I changed my approach today from trying to strike everybody out to just trying to get groundballs."

"I've been catching him for two years and that was definitely one of the best games he's ever pitched," Schenck said.

With the win the 11th-seeded Saints will take on No. 2 seed Wheaton North at 2:30 p.m. Saturday for the regional championship.

"Wheaton North is the DuPage Valley Conference champion and they're the two seed for a reason," Foulkes said. "We know we'll have our hands full."

Andy Bejlovec (4-3) suffered the loss for the senior-heavy Warriors.

"These (12) seniors have got 45 wins in two years and that's a school record," Gilliam said. "That's a tribute to these guys."

-- Craig Brueske

York 8, Batavia 4:ŒMarcus Boozell and Tom Judge were both due against Batavia. Bad.

Boozell, a senior designated hitter on York, was 0-for-5.

Judge, the Dukes' third baseman, had either struck out or reached base on an error in his 5 previous at-bats.

Then came at-bat No. 6 for both of them in the top of the 12th inning.

That's when Boozell drove in the run that broke a 4-4 tie. One batter later with the bases loaded, Judge smacked a 3 RBI double that pushed the Dukes ahead for good.

In the end, after three-plus chilly hours of baseball that included heavy metal hits in between innings, the No. 10 Dukes topped the No. 8 Bulldogs, 8-4 in extra innings in the Class 4A Schaumburg regional semifinal Thursday.

"I had the easy job," Judge said. "Marcus came up and had the winning run. I just went up there and took the same approach, saw a pitch and hit it. Luckily, we scored more runs. It worked out for us."

This is York coach Phil Bodine's last season with the Dukes. Earlier this year, he accepted the coaching job at Plainfield South.

"I didn't want this to be the last game," Bodine said. "I love these kids, I love the school. I told the kids, 'I want to keep playing, I want to keep coaching you guys.'"

-- Christine Bolin

Glenbard South 10, Prosser 0:ŒDavid Suffern (5-3) fired a 6-inning perfect game for the Raiders (20-14) in the Class 3A Glenbard South regional semifinals. Suffern notched 12 strikeouts. Joe Biagini went 3-for-4 with 3 RBI.

Immaculate Conception 2, East Dubuque 0:ŒDanny Muisenga (4-4) pitched a shutout as the Knights (13-18) advanced to the Class 1A Westminster Christian sectional title game. Jose Godinez drove in a run while Matt Purdom had 2 hits.

Lake Park 5, Addison Trail 4:ŒMike Ostrowski's RBI single in the bottom of the seventh inning scored Bryan Woods with the winning run for the Lancers (20-15) in the Class 4A Elk Grove regional semifinals. Matt Hammesfahr (3-3) pitched 2 innings of relief to notch the win. Kevin Babica had 2 hits for Addison Trail (6-30), which rallied from a 4-0 deficit.

Benet 8, Plainfield North 7:ŒThe Redwings (22-13) withstood a 5-run seventh inning by Plainfield North to advance into the Class 4A Benet regional final. Winning pitcher John Boyle improved to 7-0 while Bryan Roberts notched the final out to earn his fourth save. Alex Staehely and Connor Reilly each had 2 hits.

Wheaton Academy 10, Ridgewood 1:ŒWinning pitcher Sterling Witt (4-2) and Eric Albaugh each went 3-for-4 to lead the Warriors (15-13) into the Class 3A Nazareth Academy regional final.