(AUGUSTA NJ) – The Rockland Boulders (35-21) extended their winning streak to 6 today with their defeat of the Sussex County Miners (21-36). Devin Harris recorded his third home run of the season in the 5-2 win.

Both the Boulders and the Miners went 1-2-3 in the first inning. Marcus Nidiffer got the Boulders on base in the top of the second inning, however he was left stranded at first. Meanwhile David Fischer retired three straight batters.

The bats came alive in the top of the fourth inning for the Boulders with them scoring their first two runs of the game off of a Mike Montville 2-run RBI.  The Miners were unable to find an answer for the Boulders and went 1-2-3 for the third time.

Junior Arrojo came within one of tying Jared McDonald’s record of consecutive games on base after getting walked in the top of the fifth inning. A Brenden Webb double had the Miners threatening for the second time in the bottom of the fifth, inning however he was left stranded after an Alex DeBellis strikeout.

The Boulders extended their lead to 3 in the top of the seventh inning off of a Marcus Nidiffer RBI double and an error by the third baseman. Two wild pitches allowed Nidiffer to advance to third base and then score as well.

Down by four in the bottom of the seventh, the Miners attempted a rally with a single to start the inning, however Jay Austin was caught stealing third base and the side was retired for the fifth time in seven innings.

Andres Santiago’s day ended for the Miners in the top of the eighth, with Josh Wood taking over at the mound. Santiago finished the game playing 7 innings, allowing 2 earned runs, striking out 9 and walking 4 with a grand total of 32 batters faced. The Boulders continued to extend their lead in the top of the eighth as well with a Devin Harris solo home run, his third of the season.

An error by the third baseman had the Boulders threatening again in the top of the ninth with runners at the corners, however they were unable to capitalize. The Miners got last licks in the bottom of the ninth and were able to put runners at the corners. The Boulders retired Fischer for the day in response. Liarvis Breto took over for the rest of the game while a Chris Jacobs 2 RBI double ended the shutout.  

David Fischer (4-2) got the win today, pitching 7 shutout innings, with only 4 hits, 2 walks and 11 strikeouts on 29 batters faced. Andres Santiago (2-5) took the loss for the Miners.

With the win today, the Boulders can take sole position of first place in the league with a Quebec Loss tonight. The Boulders return to Palisades Credit Union park tomorrow, July 20th to continue their series against the Miners at 11 a.m. Tickets are available by calling (845)-364-0009, visiting the box office or sliding to rocklandboulders.com