FAIRVIEW PARK, Ohio -- Senior hurlers Dillon Bandi and Tyler Danburg engaged in a bit of Bohlken Park mound mastery on Monday. Both twirled complete-game gems in a 4-3 Rocky River victory that saw the Pirates rally from a mid-game 3-1 deficit.
Bandi was brilliant, going the full seven, fanning 11, and allowing just one earned run on three base hits. The veteran right-hander worked through some traffic and trouble in the second, third, and fourth innings -- allowing solo runs in each -- and then powered his way to the finish line in the Great Lakes Conference neighborhood tussle.
Bandi's mound opposite, Tyler Danburg, also went the route. Danburg allowed three earned runs in the contest and gave a bulldog effort in time and again stranding Bucs on the bags.
In the River fifth, center fielder Jacob Florentine reached on a hit by pitch and came around to score on a stolen base and a Fairview error. Leadoff batter Anthony Ferchill then tripled and came in to score on a sacrifice fly by shortstop Gavin O'Brien. The twin runs tied the game at 3-3. O'Brien came up with a defensive gem, ranging far to his left to snare a would-be RBI groundball single in the bottom of that inning. Bandi and Danburg dueled into the sixth with the scoreboard digits knotted at 3-3.
In the Pirate sixth, second baseman Danny Petrus reaches on a fielding error. Pinch runner Thomas Rossi nabbed second, then advanced to third on groundout. Rossi then scored on a clutch two-out infield single by Florentine. River's 4-3 lead was preserved by another solid defensive play in the home half of the sixth when catcher Nathan Mitchell tracked down a shallow foul fly near the third-base bench. The rest of the way it was all-Bandi.
The senior righty hadn't pitched a 1-2-3 frame since the first, but he would retire the final five batters he faced to close out the Rocky River victory. Three of the last four Warriors set down were on punch-outs.
Florentine (2-for-2), O'Brien (2-for-3), and Michael DiFranco (2-for-4, double) each registered multiple hits in the win.
by Skip Snow
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