Rocky River’s Max Lurie slides safely into third base as Fairview’s Canaan Lorek waits for the throw during last Friday’s West Shore Conference game at Bohlken Park. (West Life photo by Larry Bennet)

Pirates continue upswing with win over Warriors
By Jim Horvath
Sports
Published May 5, 2010

It was a beautiful day for baseball last Friday at Bohlken Park as Rocky River and Fairview squared off in a West Shore Conference game.

When it was all said and done, however, it turned out to be a lot sunnier day for the Pirates.

River’s offense cast a dark cloud over the Warriors, erupting for 16 hits and taking advantage of three Fairview errors in a stunning 17-5, five inning win. The lopsided win allowed the Pirates to move to 10-7 overall and a solid 7-2 in the WSC.

That record is a far cry from where the Pirates were at two years ago when Tim Cark took over the program. The loss also provided a bump in the road for the Warriors, who fell to 6-12 overall and 3-6 in league games under second-year head coach John Carter.

It’s just one of those things,” Carter said as he was locking up the equipment room at Bohlken. “River hit the baseball. We allowed too many walks and made too many errors.

“They came up with some big hits. That spells doom and disaster when you add it all together,” he added.

The Warriors had been in most of their games this season, and were able to bounce back the next day at Columbia. Fairview managed to split a doubleheader with the Raiders, winning the first game 8-3 while dropping a 4-1 decision in the nightcap.

River, which had a doubleheader at Avon Lake that day, had a rough outing with a pair of five-inning, 13-3 losses.

“All week long, I told my coaching staff that this game worried me,” Clark said after addressing his team in left field. “Fairview is much improved, and they’ve played everybody tight this season.

“We’re still up and down, so yes, this was a shock to win the game like this,” he said.

“Like this” included a seven-run outburst in the top of the fourth inning and another five-run spurt in the fifth to match the Warriors’ five-run rally in the fourth.

Rocky River sophomore pitcher Justin Seffernick winds into his motion on his way to his third win of the season last Friday against Fairview. (West Life photo by Larry Bennet)

River had taken a 1-0 lead in the second inning when Clay Johanson reached on a fielder’s choice and scored on a double to left by right fielder Travis Pescatrice. The lead went to 5-0 in the third, with a four-run rally topped off by Johanson’s two-run double to left.

For all intents and purposes, the Pirates plunged the dagger in the top of the fourth. That’s when 13 batters stepped up to the plate and seven of them came around to score to make it 13-0, River.

The Pirates had already knocked out Fairview starter Dave Lansu in the third. Don Posladek came in to relieve and stayed in to take the brunt of River’s onslaught.

Tyler Stern walked to start things out, and Nate Kopechek followed with a single to right. Kopechek was erased on a fielder’s choice, but Ryan Connelly singled up the middle with runners at second and third for the first two runs of the inning.

A single from starting pitcher Justin Seffernick put runners at the corners. Things started to really go wrong for the Warriors when they missed a tag off an infielder bouncer from Killian Hollo. That scored the third run of the inning and left runners at first and second with still just one out. A single to left from Tyler Scott loaded the bases.

Johanson’s single up the middle off a 2-0 count brought in the fourth run and made it 9-0, Pirates. A fielder’s choice brought in the fifth run, then two more scored when Kopechek drilled a double over the head of Fairview center fielder Jose Sanchez.

To the Warriors’ credit, however, they came right back in the bottom of the frame with five runs of their own.

A single to left by outfielder Ryan O’Grady got things started for the home team. With one out, Seffernick allowed back-to-back walks as Fairview loaded the bases. The next batter struck out, but Posladek coaxed another walk to force in the Warriors’ first run of the game.

Infielder Pat Starks followed with an RBI single to left. Up to the plate stepped senior third baseman Canaan Lorek, who launched a three-run triple to the fence in left field to clear the bases and keep his team in the game at 13-5.

“He’s our glue,” Carter said of Lorek. “He’s probably our team MVP. He’s had timely hits for us all season.”

Unfortunately for the Warriors, Lorek never got up for another shot.

River quickly erased all doubt in the top of the fifth. Seffernick doubled to center and Hollo walked. Scott then jumped on the first pitch and drilled it over the fence in left to make it 16-5. An RBI double from Pescatrice off Fairview reliever Kyle Cansky concluded the River run.

Johanson, who had relieved Seffernick with two outs in the fourth, pitched an unconventional 1-2-3 inning to close it out. He had walked the third batter of the inning, but picked him off to end the game.

“It’s been a tough week with the stretch of games we’ve had, but we can’t use that as an excuse,” Carter said. “We’ve still got to get ahead, throw strikes and make the plays when it’s time.”

Clark, meanwhile, felt his program had made big strides this season.

“I think we’ve finally jumped over the hurdle,” Clark said. “We’re winning games now that we haven’t been able to close out in the past two seasons.

“When I think back to two years ago, we wanted to toughen up our schedule and expose our younger players to better competition,” he recalled. “I think that’s starting to pay dividends. We’ve got a nice mix of players now, and we’ve built things from the ground up.

“The kids have bought in to what we’re trying to accomplish. They’re working their tails off, and I couldn’t be more proud of them,” he added.