OBERLIN, Ohio -- Rocky River rode the sparkling performances of two freshman golfers in earning a fifth-place finish in Saturday's St. Edward Invitational held at Oberlin Country Club.
The Pirates posted a four-man score of 317, which stands as the team's best 18-hole mark of the season. River turned aside several area powers with the performance on an idyllic early fall day, and the Maroon & White finished just three strokes out of third place. The Double-R fifth-place finish was amidst a field of a dozen teams in an event hosted by St. Edward High School.
St. Ignatius (291) won the tournament. Walsh (308) and Gilmour (314) finished second and third, respectively.
Freshmen Luke Dietrich and Nick Tianello paced the Pirate effort. Both netted personal season-best rounds of 78. Senior Will Bennett was right behind them, at 39-40--79.
Dietrich (40-38--78) birdied No. 17 and No. 18 to finish 1-over on the inward nine at the par-72 (35-37) club which dates back to 1899. He has now carded an 81-or-better in five of seven 18-hole rounds played this season.
Tianello (39-39--78) struck the ball well all day en route to navigating the 6,290-yard course with 13 pars, four bogeys, and a double-bogey.
Bennett had one birdie in his round, and it was nearly a more memorable score than the circled '2' that found its way onto his scorecard in the assigned slot for hole No. 18. The senior Pirate cozied his tee-shot to within one foot of the flagstick, a near-ace on the 113-yard, par-3 finishing hole.
Senior Hayden Weaver fired a 38-44--82 to finish as River's No. 4.
The Pirates' non-counter was senior Aidan McDonald, and he carded his best 18-hole score (89) since Aug. 20.
Rocky River's team score toppled the squad's previous best, a 334 scored in a season-opening win over Avon on Aug. 17 (Sweetbriar Golf Club).
"We were really solid all day," said Head Coach David Hendrickson, whose team closed out a stretch of five events in five days with Saturday's tournament. "It fun to watch our guys strike it well and post some low scores."
St. Ignatius sophomore Connor Malicki won medalist honors with a 70 on Saturday. Malicki won a scorecard playoff against Nick Piesen (St. Ignatius) and Ben Cors (Walsh) who filed the same 2-under scores.
CANNON FIRE ...
TERRIFIC TANDEM: Luke Dietrich and Nick Tianello have made their collective mark early in their Rocky River careers. Dietrich (seven) and Tianello (two) have logged a combined nine top-2 finishes on River's team scorecards.
STELLAR SEPTEMBER: Will Bennett owns a stroke average of 81.2 on the season. The three-time All-Great Lakes Conference honoree (2017-19) has averaged a 77.9 over nine events this month.
YOUNG BUCS: Dietrich and Tianello played in Rocky River's most recent junior varsity match, which was contested Thursday (the same day as River's Senior Day varsity match at Big Met). Dietrich fired a 38 and Tianello posted a 41. Their scores bracketed a 40 notched by Robby Lang in a 161-189 win over the Brecksville Bees. The Pirate JV is 9-1 on the season.
ON DECK: On Monday, Rocky River will travel to Columbia Station, Ohio, compete in the Midview Invitational at Columbia Hills COuntry Club.
by Skip Snow
# # # pirates # # #