HINCKLEY, Ohio (Oct. 10, 2022) -- The Pirates came up short in a Monday bid to qualify for the 2022 OHSAA DI Boys Golf Championship. Rocky River placed 11th in the DI Northeast Ohio District Tournament held at Pine Hills Golf Club. The event closed out River's season. [
results]
Rocky River filed a four-man score of 335. The Pirates' scoring quartet was comprised of juniors Luke Dietrich (37-39--76) and Nick Tianello (42-40--82) and seniors Owen Toole (38-50--88) and Wes Bennett (44-45--89).
Dietrich nearly qualified for an at-large berth in the Buckeye State title event to be contested at the Ohio State University Scarlet Course Oct. 21-22. The junior standout clocked two birdies, nine fairways, and 10 greens in regulation in posting his 5-over 76 on the 6,636-yard layout. Monday's event sent five teams and five at-large individuals to the state tournament. Dietrich missed out on a playoff for that fifth individual slot by one stroke. He closes out his season with a team-best stroke average of 76.4.
As a team, the Swinging Corsairs hit fairways at a 60.7% clip Monday. They hit 40.3% of their greens in regulation and averaged 35.5 putts per man. The five teams qualifying out of the Pine Brook district event were St. Ignatius (289), Hoban (297), Massillon Jackson (308), Green (318), and Medina (319).
The Maroon & White missed out on joining that list by a count of 16 strokes, and that brings an end to a season comprised of some 8,500 golf shots launched from Aug. 5-Oct. 10. From summer to fall, in a season that included big performances from River's dynamic duo of Deitrich and Tianello ... clutch efforts from the team's two seniors, Bennett and Toole ... and plenty of key contributions registered by others. A season that included Rocky River's seventh Great Lakes Conference title, a trio of tournament victories, and several other top-5 finishes.
"I am so proud of these guys," said coach David Hendrickson. "Not only of their performance but for the way they represented our school."
No state championship banner was earned. But in this corner, it says one certain flag should be hoisted briskly and displayed proudly for these Brethren of the North Coast. Raise the Jolly Roger and let it fly for the Swinging Corsairs of 2022.by Skip Snow