Rockland’s first run came off a solo homer by Mike Montville in the second inning. Sussex County tied the game in the third starting with Ryan Wolfsberg reaching on an E5. Jarred Mederos singled to put runners on the corners. The run came on a base hit by Jay Baum to tie the game.
Rubi Silva scored on a passed ball giving the Miners the lead in the fourth, but the Boulders exploded in the bottom of the frame. Montville started the rally with his second home run of the game to tie the game. Later in the inning, the Boulders loaded the bases and Mike Fransoso cleared them with a double and also came home on an E2 to make the score 6-2.
However, the Miners tried to fight back in the next inning. Alexi Colon led off with a double and scored on an RBI single by Jay Baum. Baum moved to second on a throw home and went to third on a groundout. Chase McDonald’s sac fly brought home the second run of the inning for Sussex County.
Rockland erased the Miner rally attempt in the bottom of the fifth. Montville doubled and after stealing third scored on an E2. Jared McDonald would later walk and Daniel Arribas followed that up by being hit by a pitch. After a double steal, both runners scored on a pair of wild pitches.
In the sixth, Fransoso led off with a walk and Dylan Tice singled. Marcus Nidiffer tacked on another run with a sac fly to make the score 10-4, but the Miners quickly got that run back in the seventh. Baum led off with a walk, moved to second on a balk, and went to third on a groundout. McDonald then singled him home.
Sussex County continued to score moving into the eighth. After Mederos singled, Nate Irving doubled him home. Irving scored on a double by Baum to cut the Boulder lead to 10-7. The league’s leading home run hitter, Joe Maloney, sealed the game though with his 30th homer of the season with Tice on base. The home run that traveled out of the park also broke the season franchise record.
Justin Topa (13-3) earned his league leading 13th win of the season in six innings of four-run baseball. Kody Kerski (5-4) was the losing pitcher after getting shelled for nine runs in his 4.2 innings of work. The two teams will play each other again tomorrow at Sussex County.