ROCKY RIVER, Ohio -- Rocky River opened the 2022 season with a chilled split against neighbor Lutheran West Saturday. The Pirates registered a 10-0 shutout victory in the first game of the twin bill at Lutheran West High School. The Longhorns rebounded with a 7-6 win in game 2.

Senior Katie Mommers twirled a gem in the first game, going the route (five innings) and allowing just four base hits and one walk while punching out four. Fellow senior Kelsey Murphy clocked a two-run home run, a single, and a walk as part of a four-RBI effort. The Maroon & White hoisted crooked numbers in three of the first four innings of the contest.

Rocky River fell behind 3-0 over the first two frames of the second game. The Pirates (1-1) got two runs back in the top of the third, but the Longhorns countered with one run in the bottom of the third and three more in the bottom of the fourth. River showed some late life by getting two in the fifth and two in the sixth, but Lutheran hurler Le Sullivan struck out the final four batters she faced in a complete-game, 19-strikeout performance for the home nine.

Junior Colleen Meese (3-1/3 innings pitched, six runs on 11 base runners) and Mommers (2-2/3 IP, 1R, 2 BR) provided River's game-2 work in the circle. Mommers went 3-for-3 with a double at the plate. Murphy and senior Lindsay Hartman added two hits each. The Pirates outhit the Longhorns 9-7.

On the 42-degree, breezy day, senior Emily Satayathum reached base five times (four walks, one hit by pitch) in eight plate appearances.

"It was good to get out on the diamond," said head coach Jeff Hammond. "We are excited to see how this team -- which has been working hard in the preseason -- comes together in games."


by Skip Snow

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