Jerod Edmondson and Brendon Kelliher crashed two-run homers in successive innings to lead the Worcester Tornadoes to a 7-2 victory over the at Hanover Insurance Field in Worcester, Mass.
The loss snapped the Boulders’ team-record five-game winning streak, which included their first four in a row on their current eight-game swing.
Chris Valencia got things started for Rockland, leading off with a single, stealing second and coming around on a two-base sacrifice fly when Keith Brachold’s ball to deep center was caught by Edmondson, who crashed into the fence, allowing Valencia to come around. Rockland’s Jon Velasquez would walk a pair in the first but settle down to strike out four Tornadoes over the first two innings.
After the Boulders stranded the bases full in the third inning, Worcester broke even in the bottom half, when Cameron Monger singled, stole second, and scored on Brondon Pinckney’s single. Rockland threatened but could not get on the board again against Kevin Cooper until the fifth inning, when they reclaimed the lead.
Ryan Scoma singled with one out, moved up on an Orlando Mercado single, and came in with the go-ahead marker when Cole Kraft’s chopper sailed into right field for a hit. Edmondson would put the Tornadoes ahead in the bottom half with a two-run shot to right, bringing in Monger, who had singled, to make the score 3-2. They expanded the margin in the sixth when Branden Kelliher hit a matching two-run homer to put the hosts up by three. Another came across when Johnny Welch’s infield hit brought in Monger with his third run of the evening.
Worcester’s bullpen was strong the rest of the way, preserving the victory for Kevin Cooper, who improved to 1-2. Velasquez took the loss to drop to 1-3 on the campaign.
Rockland wraps up the weekend set in Worcester today. They will then play two games in New Jersey against the Jackals before returning to Provident Bank Park for a season-long 10-game homestand, starting on Friday, June 15.
