Home runs, active baserunning allow Holy Name to defeat Rocky River

By: Chris Ginley

PARMA HEIGHTS, OHIO– On what was probably the warmest and best day for baseball all season, Rocky River and Holy Name met in a battle of two of the top Great Lakes Conference teams.

There was offense from both sides today as both teams struck early with Rocky River getting on the board in the top of the first and Holy Name answering right back with Matt Springer hitting the first of the Namers’ two home runs. They took the lead briefly on an RBI groundout by Dan Wimsett to put the score at 2-1 at the end of the first inning.

Despite giving up a run early in the game, the Namers’ starting pitcher Matt Springer cruised through the first two innings, striking out two Pirate batters.

Tommy Kelly of the Pirates got their only big offensive inning going in the top of the third by lining a ball up the middle for a single. Owen Jaite doubled on the next pitch to score Kelly and pull the Pirates within one on a ball that was misplayed by the Holy Name center fielder. After Ross Hartman walked, Jack White added a single to score Jaite and tie the game at 3. Ryan Dunning hit a sacrifice fly, scoring Hartman and giving the Pirates the lead at 4-3. “Despite the result of the game, I thought we hit better today than we did in recent games and we had a better approach. It was something positive to take away from today’s game,” said Rocky River Head Coach Daryl Sanders after the game.

The Namers tied it when a ball that was hit up the middle deflected off of second base, allowing the ball to roll into the outfield and allow Aidan Hickey to score.

After the big third inning, the only consistent offense that the Pirates were able to produce was leadoff hits in the middle innings. They were unable to turn those baserunners into runs, unfortunately. A bright spot for the Pirates was that starting pitcher, Grant Eversman frequently got out of jams that could have spelled disaster for the Pirates.

Hickey continued his strong offensive day, hitting another home run to right center field, which would eventually be the winning run.

Eversman ran out of gas in the bottom of the sixth, as the Namers tacked on four more insurance runs to make it a 9-4 final. A lot of their runs were accentuated by errors and fielding troubles by the Pirates. “We had a couple two-out errors that cost us in the end. Those plays allowed them to extend the inning and set them up to produce more offense and get some insurance runs, which they did,” said Sanders.