The Sussex County Miners saw an early four-run lead disappear but rebounded to down the visiting New York Boulders, 8-7, in 10 innings at Skylands Stadium in Augusta, NJ, on Saturday night.

Edwin Mateo’s sacrifice fly to left field scored Yanio Perez with the winning run.

Sussex County began the 10th inning with Isaias Quiroz on second base. Matt Leon, the fourth New York pitcher of the night, walked Perez before Jawuan Harris bunted for a single to load the bases. Juan Silverio’s single to left plated Quiroz with the tying run and set the stage for Mateo.

The Boulders had taken a 7-6 lead in the top of the 10th on Chris Kwitzer’s two-out single that scored pinch-runner Giovanni Garbella.

The 10th started with Austin Dennis at second base. After Tucker Nathans struck out, Gabriel Garcia hit a sharp groundball to shortstop. Dennis slipped as he attempted to return to second and was tagged out in a rundown as Garcia advanced to second. Kwitzer then followed with his single off Miners’ reliever Tyler Thornton, Sussex County’s third pitcher of the night.

The Miners scored early and often as they moved out to a 4-0 lead after two innings. In the first frame, Sussex County touched up New York starter Danny Nunan for three runs, getting RBI singles from Harris and Silverio, as well as a run-scoring double from Mateo.

The Miners made it 4-0 on a second inning sacrifice fly by Perez.

The Boulders got on the scoreboard in the third with a Dennis RBI double, but the Miners answered that run with one of their own in the fourth on a Martin Figueroa run-scoring groundout.

New York threatened in the fifth when they loaded the bases with no outs against Miners’ starter Vin Mazzaro. However, David Vinsky bounced into a double play that saw one run score. Dennis, though, followed with an RBI double that cut the Boulders’ deficit to 5-3.

In the home half of the fifth, a run-scoring single from Silverio increased the Miners’ advantage back to three runs at 6-3.

New York inched back to within two runs in the seventh inning on an RBI double by Vinsky off Sussex County reliever Robert Klinchock.

The Boulders threatened once again in the eighth inning, putting runners on the corners with none out. Tyler Thornton came on to relieve for Sussex County and induced a double play grounder from the Boulders’ Jake MacKenzie with Gabriel Garcia scoring from third to make it a 6-5 game.

Francisco Del Valle, however, followed with a solo home run, his fourth hit of the game – he had doubled in each of his first three trips to the plate on the night, and sixth home run of the year that knotted the game at 6-6.

Kyle Mott, the third pitcher of the night for New York, pitched perfect sixth through eighth innings, giving the Boulders the chance they needed to complete their comeback and tie the game at 6-6. He was relieved after surrendering a walk and single with one out in the ninth by Leon, who retired Figueroa and Oraj Anu to preserve the tie and send the game into extra innings.

Thornton picked up the win for the Miners as he improved to 1-1 on the year, while the loss was Leon’s first of the season after winning his first five decisions.

Information regarding season tickets and packages for the Boulders’ 2022 season are available by calling 845-364-0009 or sliding to www.NYBoulders.com.