(POMONA, NY) - The Rockland Boulders (20-11) triumphed over the New Jersey Jackals (20-11) on Tuesday night. The Boulders trailed Jersey by only 1 game for control of first place in the Can-Am coming into the evening. With the win, and a Quebec loss, Rockland moved into a tie for first place in the league.

This was the Boulders final game of a seven game home stand before they visit the Jackals tomorrow, June 22, at Yogi Berra Stadium for two games of this three game split series.

A pitching duel between two of the league leaders in ERA was on the menu. On the hill for Rockland was their ace, right-hander Markus Solbach. Brian Ernst got the nod for New Jersey. Ernst who possessed a 2.06 ERA coming into the game had the slight advantage over Solbach’s 2.15 ERA.

The battle of pitching aces was not the only attraction of this matchup. With two of the most prolific offenses in the Can-Am league, fans expected  an offensive frenzy of  a game. Expectations were met indeed. Jackals DH Michael O’Neil opened up the game with a bloop single to right. Batting second for the Jackals was third baseman Ryan Sandoval, who singled to left advancing O’Neil to second base. The daunting 6’6 frame of Art Charles, who leads the Can-Am in batting average, home runs, and runs batted in, stepped up to the plate with men on first and second. Charles flew out to deep center, pushing Boulders center fielder Jared McDonald all the way to the warning track. O’Neil tagged and advanced to third. Batting cleanup for Jersey was the right fielder Cory Vaughn, who reached first safely on a fielder’s choice, bringing in O’Neil from third and putting the Jackals up 1-0, through the first half inning.

The Jackals quick start did not phase the Boulders. On just the third pitch delivered by New Jersey’s Brian Ernst, Jared McDonald blasted his 9th homerun of the year deep to the right field “Budweiser Short Porch” at Palisades Credit Union Park. The score was 1-1 after 1 inning of play.

Three Jackals went up, and three Jackals went down in 1,2,3 order to open the 2nd inning.

#12 Ed Charlton, who was signed just hours before opening pitch, was stationed in right field for the evening in his Rockland Boulder debut.  Charlton led off the second with a walk. Batting in the 7 hole for Rockland was the left fielder Mike Montville. Montville just squeezed a home run over the right center fence for his 2nd dinger of the year, bringing in Charlton for his first Rockland run, and to put the Boulders up 3-1 on the teams second home run in as many innings.

The score would remain unchanged until the bottom of the 6th inning. Ed Charlton led off the inning by getting drilled in the back by a Brian Ernst fastball. Charlton advanced to  second via a sacrifice bunt by Mike Montville. Boulders first baseman Alex DeBellis then singled to right, Charlton would score all the way from second for his second run on the evening in his debut game, extending Rockland’s lead to 4-1. Ernst would strikeout out the next batter he faced and was retired for the night. After 5 2/3 innings, Ernst exited the game allowing 4 earned runs on 7 hits and 8 strikeouts.

The Jackals made their bid at a comeback in the top of the 7th innings. Center fielder Dvontrey Richardson doubled to left and was brought home the very next at bat by an Adam Martin home run to right which cut the Boulders lead to a score of 4-3.

The Jackals furthered their comeback in the 8th inning. They scored 4 runs on 5 hits. 2 runs came off a Dvontrey Richardson stand up triple. The Jackals took the lead 7-4 after 8. The Boulders once again had an answer. Designated hitter Mike Schwartz stepped up to the plate with 2 outs and the bases loaded. He hit a bases clearing double to tie the score up 7-7 after 8.

The Boulders won in walk off fashion in the bottom of the 9th. Jared McDonald walked up in the situation every baseball enthusiast dreams about. Bases loaded, 2 outs bottom of the 9th. He bombed a ball to centerfield that went off the wall bringing home short stop Pat McKenna for the winning score to give Rockland an 8-7 win. J-Mac was barley able to round first before getting swarmed by his teammates.

With the win, Rockland snapped a two game losing streak. The Boulders look to continue their winning ways tomorrow as they battle  the Jackals at New Jersey with the first pitch planned for 7:00 pm.