ROCKY RIVER, Ohio (April 15, 2025) -- The bats on both sides were cold for much of Tuesday's Cleveland West Conference battle between Rocky River and visiting Normandy. But the Invaders and Pirates combined for 11 runs in a wild sixth inning. The visiting nine got the best of a 7-for-4 exchange what proved to be the final frame, and Normandy defeated Rocky River 9-7 in a six-inning game called due to darkness.

The Pirates had pushed a 3-2 lead into the top of the sixth, and that's when the Invaders started to make a mess of an otherwise tidy scorecard. Normandy, which lost a 7-5 game to River Monday night, put two aboard against one out to start the sixth. A strikeout then got the Maroon & White within an out of getting out of the sixth, and perhaps the game, with a lead.

But the Invaders then strung together the following parade of base runners: walk-single-single-hit batsman-walk-single-walk. They batted 12 in the inning and scored seven, and the scoreboard outburst came after Normandy had gone 1-for-its-first-8 with runners in scoring position.

Rocky River (4-3, 2-1 Cleveland West Conference) rallied to bat around and score three in the bottom of the sixth. But the comeback effort, along with the daylight, died there.

Andrew Sikon went 2-for-4 with two RBIs and filed five innings of mound work (three runs allowed on five hits, 10 strikeouts) for the Invaders.

Andrew Locsei (2-for-4, RBI) and Jeff Maslar (2-for-2, walk) each registered multi-hit games for the Pirates. Josh Mommers tripled and walked twice. He batted in two runs.

by Skip Snow

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