(TROIS-RIVIERES, Quebec) – Another stellar offensive performance helped the Rockland Boulders hold off a late rally from Trois-Rivieres in a 10-3 victory on Thursday night. The Boulders (45-38) have now won three straight games, taking four of five games in the series against Les Aigles (28-55).
Once again the scoring started early for Rockland as they loaded the bases with one out in the first. A sacrifice fly from Devin Harris brought in Mike Fransoso for the 1-0 advantage before Elvin Soto drove in two more on a single. Mike Montville would make it a 5-0 lead in the third with a two-run homerun before the Boulders added another run on an error in the fourth.
Starting pitcher Jason Byers pitched a scoreless five innings, scattering just three hits for the Boulders. Liarvis Breto would come on in relief in the sixth, staked to a 6-0 lead. The lefty ran into some trouble, loading the bases with two outs. Trois-Rivieres’ Mike Schwartz worked a pinch-hit walk to put Les Aigles on the board before Breto struck out Ryan Brockett to end the threat.
Trois-Rivieres would creep a little closer in the bottom of the seventh when Connor Crane laced a triple, scoring two runs, and making it a 6-3 Boulders lead heading into the eighth inning. It was in that frame that the offense came back to life and put the game out of reach for Rockland.
After consecutive walks and a sacrifice bunt put runners at first and second with one out, Junior Arrojo doubled home a pair of runs before Marcus Nidiffer did the same just two batters later. An RBI single from Jared Schlehuber in the ninth made it 11-3 and provided enough insurance for rookie Matt Kostalos to finish things out in the ninth.
Byers (2-1) got the win with his five shutout frames, striking out three batters and working around four walks. Every Boulders starter reached base safely for the second straight game, while four different players had multi-RBI nights. The loss went to Matt Horan (3-3) as he allowed five runs in three innings on just four hits and three walks. Trois-Rivieres issued 10 walks and committed three errors as they dropped their third straight game sixth in their last seven.
The Boulders now return home for a three-game series with league leading New Jersey, starting on Friday, August 19th at 7:00pm at Palisades Credit Union Park. Fans can still purchase tickets by calling (845) 364-0009, visiting the box office, or sliding to www.RocklandBoulders.com.