Marmion rallies to catch Driscoll
No one ever said staying unbeaten is easy.
Marmion's baseball team made it look about as difficult as possible on Tuesday, but the Cadets also made it five straight wins to start the season by rallying for a 12-11 eight-inning victory over Driscoll in Aurora.
With two outs in the bottom of the eighth, Marmion's David Brouch singled to left to drive in courtesy runner Joe Wulff with the winning run. It capped an epic Suburban Catholic Conference opener that had a bit of everything.
"That was a heck of a game," said Brouch, who had 4 hits and 3 RBI. "It showed a lot of resiliency coming back the way we did."
The slugfest featured 30 hits, 18 walks and 28 strikeouts. Driscoll batters struck out a total of 20 times against three Marmion pitchers.
Most important, though, was the steady comeback made by the Cadets (5-0, 1-0) after they fell behind 10-3 in the top of the fourth inning.
Marmion scored twice in the bottom of the seventh on RBI singles by Dave DeSimone and Matt Milroy to send the game to extra innings. Milroy (2-0) wound up winning in relief of starter Brian Burns and reliever Jack Gunderson.
Despite allowing 11 runs, 12 hits and 10 walks, Marmion overcame it all to kick off its quest for a SCC title.
"I'm just proud of the fact that we were down 10-3 and the kids never gave up," said Marmion coach Dave Rakow. "Both sides were hitting the ball, so even down 10-3 I don't think we ever gave up."
Neither did Driscoll (5-4, 0-1), which broke out to a 4-0 first-inning lead on Tom Alt's 3-run double and Connor McDannell's RBI single. After Rick Divito drove in a run in the second, Andrew O'Reilly, Mike Romito and Phil Bongiovanni smacked RBI doubles in the fourth inning as the Highlanders built their 10-3 lead.
Marmion constantly rallied, including with Will Sterne's 2-run second-inning single. A 4-run fourth was sparked by RBI singles from Brouch, Milroy and Chris Tydd. Brouch's RBI double in the fifth bridged the gap to 10-9 before Driscoll scored an insurance run in the top of the seventh.
"In a game that's 10-3 against them, it's never safe because they've got so many great players," said Driscoll coach Sean Bieterman. "But we played with the kind of intensity and desire that makes us capable of playing with very good baseball teams."
BOX SCORE
Marmion 12, Driscoll 11
Driscoll 410 500 10 -11-12-2
Marmion 120 420 21 -12-18-0
2B: D: O'Reilly, Alt, Romito, Bongiovanni; M: Brauch, Milroy, Garza, Hoffman, Sterne.
WP: Milroy (2-0); LP: Conti (0-2).