High school baseball: Elyria Catholic gives fifth-ranked Rocky River all it wants for the second day in a row before falling

ELYRIA — For the second day in a row, Elyria Catholic was so close and yet so far away. Elyria Catholic starter L.J. Hurlbut gave up a lead-off home run to Rocky River shortstop Josh Mommers and the Panthers were forced to try to play catch-up all afternoon in a 3-2 Great Lakes Conference loss. Rocky River won the first game of the home-and-home series 2-1 in eight innings Monday. The Panthers, losers of three in a row, dropped to 3-4, 1-3 in the GLC, while Rocky River improved on one of the best starts in school history, moving to 10-0 and 5-0. The Pirates are ranked fifth in the state in Division II. Elyria Catholic tied the game in the second inning when freshman right fielder Noah Willett hit a two-out single and scored on a Pirates throwing error. The Pirates wasted little time jumping back out in front, taking advantage of an errant two-out throw that pulled Elyria Catholic first baseman Kyle Fairbanks off the bag, allowing the inning to continue and the go-ahead run to score. "We played two one-run games and they came down to who made the big hit or made the big play," Elyria Catholic coach Bruce Lisicky said. "We had a ball go out of play that cost us a run and a routine ground ball at second and we had an error there and that was the other run." The Pirates added to the lead in the fifth inning, loading the bases on an Anthony Ferchill double and a pair of walks. Ferchill scored on a wild pitch by reliever Anthony Hutter that skipped over the top of the backstop. "We came out after not doing anything against them (Monday) and decided we had to start early," Rocky River coach Ed Piazza said. "We got the big blow right away and that got everyone fired up." Pirates starter Rees Heigle watched his teammate Thomas Rossi hold the Panthers to a run and seven hits Monday and picked up some tips that allowed him to toss a three-hitter against an Elyria Catholic team that only scored only five runs in its last three games. "First-pitch strikes were important," Heigle said. "They have good hitters that put the bat on the ball. I knew I had to work my off-speed and throw what was unexpected. I knew they would make a lot of contact. I had to rely on my defense, I couldn't do it on my own." Despite Heigle's insistence upon relying on his defense, he still managed to strike out nine, recording a strikeout in every inning except the third. The Panthers scored their other run in the fifth inning when Lex Lear singled home Luke Doss. Lear, Elyria Catholic's No. 9 hitter, was the only Panther with two hits, going 2-for-2. "We're just going to have to go back and keep fighting," Lisicky said. "That was a good ballclub that beat us. To be within one run both games shows that we're right in there and we're close. We'll have to learn from these games what we need to do to win against good teams." Contact Todd Shapiro at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.