Boulders Get Swept Out of Troy

Drop All Four vs Tri-City

Troy, NY – The New York Boulders have nine games left in their regular season and are up against the proverbial wall after falling out of the Frontier League playoff picture for the first time since before the All-Star Break more than a month ago. They were swept out of Joseph L. Bruno Stadium (aka “The Joe”), dropping both games of Thursday’s doubleheader, 6-2 and 4-3.

New York (45-41) has now lost a season-high five straight games, including all four in this critical showdown with the Tri-City ValleyCats (55-32), who clinched an Atlantic Conference wild card after rallying from 3-0 down in the nightcap.

The Boulders scored a run in the fourth inning and two in the fifth, getting RBI singles from LF Fritz Genther, 2B Kyle Hess, and 1B Jason Agresti, while LHP Isaac Rohde (ND / 5.1 IP, 3 R, 4 H, 1 BB, 6 K) took a one-hit shutout into the bottom of the sixth.

But Tri-City chased the rookie with a double, two singles, and a sacrifice bunt before RHP Parker Kruglewicz (L, 0-5) allowed his two inherited runners to score on back-to-back ribby singles, then gave up a tie-breaking RBI fielder’s choice to ‘Cats LF David Glancy.

The visitors also had a short-lived lead in the Game One of the twinbill, getting a Genther RBI single in the top of the first inning before RHP Emmett Bice (L, 3-5 / 5 IP, 5 R, 6 H, 4 BB, 1 K) gave up a game-tying leado homer to Glancy in the bottom half and, four batters later, was taken deep for a two-run shot by former Boulders RF Jake Reinisch.

New York closed within 3-2 in the third when SS Austin Dennis scored on a wild pitch, but Tri-City scored twice in the fifth inning and once more in the sixth for the final margin.

Also of note:

* The Boulders have fallen 4½ games behind Sussex County for first place in the East Division and now trail Ottawa by 1½ for the Atlantic Conference’s final playoff spot

* Dennis (1-for-4 and 1-for-4) has a six-game hitting streak, a league-high 126 hits overall, and at least one in 29 of New York’s 31 games since the All-Star Break

The Boulders open a three-game series in Kinston, NC, tomorrow (Friday) night against the Down East Bird Dawgs. First pitch at historic Grainger Stadium is set for 7:00pm EDT.