The Capitales hammered out 18 runs and limited the Boulders to 5 on a rainy Friday night at Provident Bank Park.
Quebec got things going in the top of the third as Josh Colafemina reached on a leadoff walk and was driven in on a Jonathan Malo double. Sebastien Boucher would single on the very next at bat to bring Malo home. Boulders starter Will Hassett would leave the game with an apparent injury after surrendering the two runs.
But it did not take long for the Boulders to respond. Third baseman Matt Nandin led off the bottom of the third by reaching on an error by Malo. Rockland would eventually load the bases with one out on a Chris Valencia single and a Keith Brachold walk. Capitales starter John Mariotti would walk in the Boulders first run and Ryan Scoma would capitalize on the next at bat, singling to the outfield and knocking in both Valencia and Brachold to make the score 3-2 Rockland.
Boulders reliever Nicolas Blanco took over for Hassett after the injury and struggled in the top of the fourth. Quebec would score three runs in the fourth with a sacrifice fly from Colafemina and RBI singles from Steve Brown and Jeff Helps to extend the Capitales lead to 5-3. Dan Jurik would relieve Blanco and record the last two outs of the inning.
Rockland would cut the lead to 5-4 in the bottom of the fourth, but that is as close as the Boulders would get. Quebec would quickly make it a two-run game again in the top of the fifth when Capitales catcher Patrick D’Aoust homered over the left field wall.
The top of the sixth was when Quebec put the game out of reach as the Capitales exploded for seven runs, culminating with a Malo grand slam that made the score 13-4. Jurik surrendered all 7 runs and was pulled in favor of lefty Andy Suiter.
Quebec would continue to pour on the runs by adding one in the seventh and another four in the eighth to make the score 18-4. Tempers flared in the top of the eighth as Quebec’s Paul Karmas was thrown out along with assistant coach Maxim St. Pierre for arguing balls and strikes.
The Boulders would add another run in the bottom of the ninth courtesy of a Scoma double that brought in Valencia.
Rockland returns to the field today for the second game of the three game set against Quebec at 7:05 p.m. The first 1,500 fans 14-under will receive a mini bat courtesy of Dave and Busters, and there are postgame fireworks presented by RSSM LLP.
