LODI, Ohio -- The Pirates valiantly battled back from a midgame 9-2 deficit, but Rocky River's rally was cut off shy of where it needed to get for the team's postseason slate to continue and the Maroon & White were defeated 9-6 by host Cloverleaf Thursday.

Rocky River -- the No. 14 seed in the Akron District bracket of the DII Ohio Tournament -- coughed up a combined eight runs over the third and fourth innings. The Colts surge ran their total to nine runs by that stage of the game, and River had managed just a lone run in the first on an RBI single by senior Katie Mommers and a third-inning solo home run by senior Lindsay Hartman.

Solid pitching by Cloverleaf pitcher Jenna McGarry had the 13th-seeded Colts in front 9-2 when the Pirates came to bat in the top of the fifth. Battling McGarry's strikeout stuff (the Cloverleaf hurler tallied 12 punch-outs for the game), the River nine began to chip away at the deficit. River culled a run when senior Kate Tlapa tripled and was brought home on an ensuing Mommers single. For the game, Mommers would collect three hits in four trips to the plate.

The Pirates got within five (9-4) the next inning when a leadoff single by junior Colleen Meese conspired with a Colts error to produce a run. But in both the sixth and fifth innings, Rocky River (9-12) left two runners aboard. Those potential runners loomed larger after River got even closer in the seventh. In that final frame, Hartman clubbed her second home run of the game -- her fourth of the season and the seventh of her career -- after a Mommers leadoff single. Two runs were in -- River's fifth and sixth of the game -- and nobody was out. But the Double-R rally was quelled when McGarry buckled down to retire three straight Pirates.

For the game, Rocky River outhit Cloverleaf 10-9. Pitchers on both sides were dinged by a combined six errors in the game (two on Rocky River and four levied against the home side).

Abagale Gray and Morgan Sparks each went 2-for-3 with three RBIs for the Colts. Both of Gray's hits were two-baggers. McGarry allowed her six runs (four earned) on 10 hits and a walk.

River's pitching line was constructed by Mommers and Meese. Mommers went 4-2/3 innings, allowing nine runs (five earned) on eight hits and three walks. She struck out four. Meese went an inning-and-a-third, yielding a hit and three walks. Sophomore Lillian Sereika went 2-for-3.

"I am beyond proud of our team's effort tonight against a good Cloverleaf team. The girls fought hard."

The Pirates are slated to wrap up their season with a Great Lakes Conference crossover game at Lakewood on Saturday.




by Skip Snow

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