PARMA, Ohio -- The Double-R doubled up on a pair of Great Lakes Conference foes, as the Pirates downed both Buckeye and Valley Forge on Thursday.

Rocky River (4-1, 4-0 GLC) posted a four-man score of 163 on what was a beautiful  day for golf on the 3,068-yard, par-35 outward nine at Ridgewood Golf Course. With Nick Tianello and Lucas Dietrich leading the way, the Pirates bested Buckeye (168) by five strokes and Valley Forge (207) by 44.

Tianello carded a 3-over 38 at Ridgewood to lower his season average (18-hole) to 82.0 He continued a two-day mastery of par-3s with a fine birdie on the 197-yard eighth. Tianello jarred a 30-foot putt to record the 2; he went 2-under on par-3s in his Wednesday-Thursday rounds.

Dietrich fired a 39 to finish as River's No. 2. He birdied the 405-yard, par-4 second. The sophomore's 78.8 average through Thursday leads the team.

Senior Robby Lang overcame a tough start to finish as the Pirates' No. 3. Lang was 5-over after three holes but would rally to card a 41. The three-sport (golf, basketball, lacrosse) standout birdied the par-5 seventh as part of his comeback. He's also been engaged in a different kind of comeback. Lang clocked a scoring average of 82.0 for the week; he went into the week averaging a 90.3.

Wes Bennett recorded a 45 to round out River's scoring at Ridgewood.

by Skip Snow

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