ROCKY RIVER, Ohio -- A masterful pitching performance and a walk-off suicide squeeze bunt lifted Rocky River to a 1-0 victory over Buckeye in Tuesday-afternoon Great Lakes Conference action.
On what marked Senior Day for the Pirate program, the winning exploits of the day were -- appropriately enough -- carried out by several members of the 2021 graduating class of Rocky River Baseball.
Senior right-hander Dillon Bandi gave the Pirates a monster start, throwing seven shutout innings and delivering a bottom-of-the-seventh game-winning opportunity to his offense. That Pirate attack came through on a rally that included a single by senior left fielder Tommy Capka and a walk-off squeeze bunt by senior catcher Joey Pike.
With Bandi working around three walks and two Bucks doubles and with his mound opposite allowing River just three singles (senior Danny Petrus logging one of those hits) through the opening six frames of action, home plate at the Bus Yard remained unsullied by human contact through six-and-a-half innings.
One of those half-innings was a high-wire act for the River Nine. In the Buckeye half of the sixth, a walk, a stolen base, and an advance on a fly-out got a Bucks runner to third with one down. With the infield in, the Pirates shut down a squeeze bunt play. Then, with two outs, shortstop Gavin O'Brien made an over-the-shoulder catch of a flare to end the inning and keep the scoreless tie intact.
An inning later, Rocky River (7-9, 6-5 GLC) and Buckeye arrived at the bottom-of-the-seventh with a score of 0-0. A couple of donuts if you will. More breakfast pastries would be forthcoming.
A one-out single by third baseman Braedon Spies got the Pirates going. Capka followed with a clutch single to right-center, pushing Spies to third. Pinch hitter Nate Mitchell was intentionally walked to load the bases, and that brought Pike to the plate, wearing a nickname-jersey with the moniker, "Bag O Donuts", emblazoned on the back.
After a swing and a miss by Pike and with an 0-1 count, Spies broke for the plate on the next delivery. Pike wheeled around to bunt, making contact and placing the cowhide sphere down the third-base side, bouncing in the wet grass toward the on-rushing Buckeye third baseman. On the second hop, Spies was still some 45 feet from home plate but with jets engaged, knowing he had to beat not a tag but a simpler force play on a throw to the catcher. The third sacker scooped the ball in his mitt and released it in one fluid motion, sending the ball to the catcher. The ball and Spies -- diving toward the dish -- were at once in the air. And then Spies swept across the plate a moment before the ball arrived in the catcher's grasp.
The home-plate umpire signaled "safe!" and Spies was mobbed by Pirate teammates spilling off the River bench. And then the chest-bump-and-high-five brigade made its way to Pike on the first-base line.
Amongst the celebrating Sons of Blackbeard were Dillon Bandi, Tommy Capka, Michael DiFranco, Danny Petrus, and Joey Pike.
A seven-inning gem, complete with six strikeouts. Five seniors. Three men on and one out. And then?
One bunt. One chalk-lined 30-yard dash. One run.
And one bag of donuts.
by Skip Snow
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