Boulders Take Quebec To 12 Innings, But Lose Third Straight Game

Keith Brachold’s first homer as a looked to be a big one, as his 12th-inning blast gave Rockland a 7-4 lead, but an error opened the door for a four-run rally and a 8-7 win Saturday night.

The Boulders (0-3), will now look to salvage the finale of the set as the teams will play again this afternoon before the Boulders head back to Provident Bank Park in Pomona for their home opener on Tuesday, May 22.

Les Capitales hit the board in the opening frame off Rockland starter Pat Moran as Jonathan Malo singled, stole second, and eventually scored on a Sebastian Boucher sac fly. Quebec added two in the second, aided by a Ryan Mollica error. A Josue Peley RBI double and a sacrifice fly by Paul Karmas put the hosts up by a three-spot.

Rockland battled back with its biggest rally of the season in the third, taking the lead on five hits. Cole Kraft, Matt Nandin, and Keith Brachold set the table against Quebec’s John Mariotti, stringing together three straight hits to load the bases. Ryan Scoma got Rockland on the board with a sac fly. Norm Hutchins singled in a run, and Mollica reached on an error, allowing Brachold to come in the the tying tally. Scott Clement’s single with two out brought in Hutchins, giving the Boulders a 4-3 lead.

Both starters settled in nicely thereafter, as Marotti and Moran found their rhythm. Quebec knotted the score in the fifth when Moran hurt his own cause with the glove, dropping a toss from Todd Gossage on a grounder, allowing Josh Colafemina to trot home. It was all about the pitching from that point. Moran was replaced after the sixth, as was Marotti, but both bullpens proved hard to crack as the game headed for extras. Quebec’s staff was particularly effective, retiring 20 straight Boulders at one point.

Chris Rubio, Nicolas Blanco, and Adrian Martin provided five scoreless innings in relief of Moran until Brachold broke through in the 12th.  Matt Nandin walked with one down before Brachold put them ahead. Ryan Mollica singled with two out to bring around Ryan Scoma with what appeared to be a big insurance run, but the hosts would have other ideas.

Rockland closer Adrian Martin worked a strong 11th inning and was looking to close out the win in the 12th. A leadoff single by Rene Leveret was followed by a pair of deep drives to left that were reeled in by Brachold, leaving Rockland one out from victory. Bobby Wagner’s hard-hit grounder was the potential game-ender, but it went through the legs of first baseman Todd Gossage, and the floodgates were open. Josue Peley doubled to make the score 7-5 and put the tying runs in scoring position. Normand Gosselin doubled in the pair to once again tie the score, and Jeff Helps provided the walk-off hit to give the hosts the win.

Martin picked up the hard-luck loss, while Quebec’s Chad Jones took home the win despite yielding three runs in his lone inning of work. Brachold, Scoma, and Mollica each had two hits for the Boulders, who were outhit on the night by a 12-10 margin.

The Boulders return to Provident Bank Park to open a six-game homestand with their Home Opener against the Newark Bears on Tuesday, May 22 at 7:05 pm. They will play three games against Newark before hosting the Worcester Tornadoes in a weekend set.

Rockland 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 - 7 10 5
Quebec 1 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 - 8 12 3

2B--J.Peley 2 (2), N.Gosselin (1). HR--K.Brachold (1). RBI--K.Brachold 2 (2), R.Scoma (1), N.Hutchins (1), R.Mollica (1), S.Clement (1), S.Boucher (4), J.Peley 2 (6), P.Karmas (1), N.Gosselin 2 (2). HP--C.Kraft (1). SF--R.Scoma (1), S.Boucher (2), P.Karmas (1). SB--C.Kraft (1), J.Malo (2), S.Boucher (1), S.Brown (2), J.Helps (1). CS--S.Boucher (1), J.Helps (1). E--R.Mollica (2), T.Gossage 2 (2), N.Blanco (1), P.Moran (1), R.Leveret (1), J.Helps 2 (3). LOB--Rockland 9, Quebec 11.

                                                         YTD
                           IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA
Rockland
P.Moran               6.0 5 4 2 2 4 0 3.00
C. Rubio               2.0 1 0 0 2 2 0 0.00
N.Blanco              2.0 2 0 0 2 0 0 0.00
A.Martin (L,0-1)   1.2 4 4 0 0 0 0 0.00

                           11.2 12 8 2 6 6 0

Quebec
J.Mariotti              6.0 7 4 3 0 3 0 4.50
G.Duguay             3.0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0.00
D.Bobo                 1.1 0 0 0 0 3 0 0.00
T.Stanton             0.2 0 0 0 1 1 0 0.00
C.Jones (W,1-0)    1.0 3 3 3 1 1 1 27.00
                           12 10 7 6 2 11 1

WP--C.Jones (1). HB--D.Bobo (1). SO--C.Kraft, M.Nandin 2, K.Brachold 2, N.Hutchins 3, S.Clement, T.Gossage, Q.Millender, J.Malo, R.Leveret, S.Brown 2, R.Wagner, P.Karmas. BB--M.Nandin, S.Clement, S.Boucher, R.Wagner 3, J.Helps 2. BF--P.Moran 25 (25), C.Rubio 8 (12), N.Blanco 10 (14), A.Martin 11 (11), J.Mariotti 27 (27), G.Duguay 9 (9), D.Bobo 6 (9), T.Stanton 3 (6), C.Jones 7 (7). P-S--P.Moran 106-69, C.Rubio 38-21, N.Blanco 42-22, A.Martin 39-28, J.Mariotti 74-55, G.Duguay 28-20, D.Bobo 22-16, T.Stanton 11-6, C.Jones 20-13. T--3:48. A--2732

Saturday, May 19th, 2012

Worcester 7, Newark 2

Tornadoes 2B Brandon Pinckney batted in five runs to help the Tornadoes breeze past the Bears of Newark, 5-2, Saturday evening. Pinckney finished the evening with four hits in five at-bats, including a fourth-inning solo home run off Bears starting pitcher Sean Campbell. Campbell's counterpart, Worcester starting hurler Dan Sausville allowed 12 hits in six innings. But timely putouts, including six strikeouts for Sausville, limited the Newark offense to just two runs. Bears 3B Burt Reynolds scored one of those runs, highlighting his three-hit night that brought his season average to .429.

Standings

Today's Games:

May 20
Rockland @ Quebec 1:05pm
Worcester @ Newark 1:05pm
New Jersey @ K. City 5:05pm