GRAFTON, Ohio -- The Pirates stormed the links in swashbuckling fashion Tuesday afternoon, notching a season-best nine-hole score in defeating Elyria Catholic in Great Lakes Conference action. Over 2,798 yards of rolling green battleground at Pine Brook Golf Links, Rocky River clanked swords and seven irons with the Panthers, prevailing by a final score of 146-187.

The victory keeps the Pirates undefeated (6-0) in GLC action, and it marks the team's fifth consecutive win overall.

Freshman Luke Dietrich tied his season-low with an even-par 35 to pace the Swinging Corsairs. One stroke back with a career-best round was senior Aidan McDonald, who played his final four holes in 2-under en route to firing a 36. Dietrich was 2-under over his final six holes.

McDonald has now broken 40 in three consecutive matches. He owns a scoring average of 86.0 on the season.

Senior Will Bennett bogeyed the first and ninth holes on the outward nine at Pine Brook, but he carded seven straight pars in between to post a 37. River's fourth score was landed by freshman Nick Tianello, who rallied from a bogey-bogey-double stretch to post a 38.

The Pirates' 146 marked the program's lowest nine-hole match score since Sept. 12, 2017, when the Double-R dropped a 144 on the Bay Rockets.

"It was nice to see everyone put a great round together," said Head Coach David Hendrickson. "I love the direction of this team as we head down the stretch run."

For Rocky River (8-2, 6-0), that stretch run gets going with five straight days of action this week. The Pirates are slated to play matches again Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday and then play in the St. Edward Invitational on Saturday.


CANNON FIRE ...

FAB FROSH: Freshman Luke Dietrich owns a 78.7 average this month and a team-best 81.6 mark for the season. Dietrich has carded a River top-2 score in seven of the team's 12 events this season. Fellow rookie Nick Tianello has fired 38s in back-to-back matches and owns a season scoring average of 82.7.

LOW BLOW: River's 146 tag on Tuesday marked the program's best score since the Pirates hung a 144 on the Bay Rockets on Sept. 12, 2017. Led by Ben Brej's 33, River strung together a 33-35-38-38 in carding the four-man gross that day.

CIRCUIT BREAKERS: Rocky River is now 29-1 over its last 30 Great Lakes Conference matches. The five-time defending league champs are 94-2 (.979) over 96 all-time GLC matches.

RR JV A-OK AT PBGL: The Double-R junior varsity squad also played EC at Pine Brook on Tuesday, and the JV Buccaneers won big. Robbie Lang, Carter Smith, and Owen O'Toole posted 39's in a 159-249 victory over the Panthers. The River JV is now 7-1 on the season.

by Skip Snow