(COOPERSTOWN, NY) – Just two days after Mike Piazza and Ken Griffey, Jr. were inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, the Rockland Boulders notched a 9-3 win over the Sussex County Miners at famed Doubleday Field on Tuesday afternoon in the “Cooperstown Can-Am Classic”. Rookie pitcher Mike Adams tossed a complete game, allowing just three runs on four hits and striking out five to propel the Boulders to their third straight win.
Rockland (38-24) started the scoring early as Sussex County’s Francisco Rodriguez loaded the bases in the top of the first before a sacrifice fly from Devin Harris brought home Junior Arrojo for the first run of the game. A wild pitch from Rodriguez allowed another run to score, giving the Boulders a 2-0 advantage after their first at-bat. They would tack on a run in the second when Mike Fransoso doubled home Elvin Soto. Harris then continued his impressive stretch of hot hitting with a solo homer, to make it a 4-0 game.
The Miners (23-39) finally got on the board in the bottom of the inning with a solo shot from Dominique Taylor. However, that would be all that Adams (4-2) would allow. The rookie would retire six in a row at one point to pick up the win, his allowing only three runs, all being solo home runs. It was the second time that Adams took the field at the home of baseball, playing in a little league contest as a youngster.
After a pair of scoreless frames, the Boulders offense took control again in the sixth as Arrojo smashed a two-run double to left off reliever Danny Moskovits. That made it a 7-1 Boulders lead, before Nick Giarraputo blasted a solo homer himself in the bottom of the sixth. Each team would trade runs in the next inning before Rockland added an insurance run in the ninth for the final tally. Rodriguez (6-3) took the loss for the Miners, giving up five runs in only four innings of work.
Both teams complete their two-game, home-and-home series on Wednesday, July 27th at Palisades Credit Union Park. First pitch is schedule for 11:00am and great seats are still available at the box office, or at www.RocklandBoulders.com.