ROCKY RIVER, Ohio -- Rocky River banged out a season-high 15 hits in a 19-8 Great Lakes Conference victory over Parma on Tuesday evening.
Three home runs -- two by catcher Kelsey Murphy and one by third baseman Lindsay Hartman -- served as exclamation points in a game that saw the Pirates collect seven extra-base hits and go 10-of-19 with runners in scoring position. The traffic on the bags and the power and clutch hitting made for the program's most runs in a single game since April 13, 2018 (20 vs. Warrensville Heights).
With the victory at Pirate Field, the Maroon & White leveled their GLC mark at 1-1.
In Tuesday's contest, it was Parma smacking a home run and striking first. The Redmen plated five runs in the top of the first. Rocky River (2-4, 1-1 GLC) countered with two runs in the home half of the first. Lexi Aguilar keyed the beginning of the comeback with an RBI double in that frame.
River leapfrogged Parma in the bottom of the second when the home side scored five. Kate Tlapa, Emily Satayathum, Aguilar, and Hartman collected hits in the inning. The Pirates plated a pair of unearned runs in the third. In the fourth, Murphy socked her first homer of the game, a three-run shot to center. In the fifth, after Parma had managed three runs in their half, River closed out the game with a seven-spot. Murphy (grand slam) and Hartman (two-run homer) muscled the Maroon & White through that final frame.
Hartman's round-tripper was a career-first. The junior slugger reached base in 5-of-5 plate appearances: she logged a home run, a single, and three walks in running her season on-base percentage to .421.
Aguilar had three doubles as a part of a 4-for-5 game. Murphy, Sienna DeMooy (2-for-3), Maire Kelly (2-for-4), and Satayathum (2-for-3) also registered multi-hit games for the Pirates. On the base paths, the Double-R was credited with 10 stolen bases. Maire Kelly had three.
Maggie Hill (four innings, three earned runs allowed) and Aguilar (one, four) combined on the River pitching effort.
Tuesday's contest was the front half of a GLC home-and-home. The Pirates are scheduled to play at Parma on Thursday.
by Skip Snow
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