Boulders Beat Out Aigles in 10-9 Win

By Steve Balsan

Jaren Matthews and Steve Nyisztor—the number eight and nine hitters respectively—had three hits each and combined for five RBI to lead the Boulders to a wild 10-9 victory over the Aigles at Stade Fernand-Bedard in Trois-Rivieres. Jerod Edmondson extended his hitting streak to 12 games with a homer, and Donnie Webb drove in three runs in the Rockland victory, moving them six games ahead of New Jersey in the race for the final CanAm playoff slot.

Edmondson led off the top of the second with his second home run in as many nights to put the Boulders in front. With two down, Matthews singled in Stephen Cardullo, Nyisztor followed with an RBI double, and Webb tripled him home to stake the visitors to an early 4-0 edge.

Starter Cameron Bayne had allowed just one run through four innings before his fielding victimized him in the fifth. Bayne, who was tagged with four unearned runs in his previous start, saw a Johnny Welch error open the door for four unearned runs, keyed by a three-run homer from former Boulder Jon Smith to give the hosts a 5-4 lead.

Rockland answered quickly with a pair in the sixth on Webb's two-run single to reclaim the lead, but a Nyisztor error in the bottom half led to yet another unearned run, deadlocking the affair at 6-6.

Matthews would come through again in the seventh, with a two-out, two run triple before scoring on a Nyisztor double. Billy Alvino's run-scoring ground out in the eighth gave his team a seemingly safe 10-6 lead, but Steve Brown's three run shot off Nick Serino in the bottom half drew the feisty Aigles to within one.

The evening's drama was far from over, as Trois-Rivieres loaded the bases with just one out against Rockland closer Kevin Fuqua. With the tying run on third and the winning run on second, Fuqua induced Jeremy Nowak into a game-ending 6-4-3 double-play, giving the Boulders their second win in three games of the series, and fourth win in five overall.

With Quebec's victory in New Jersey on Monday, Rockland remains three games out of first place, but they have now opened a six-game gap on the third-place Jackals, with the top two teams qualifying for the CanAm's post-season championship.

Trois-Rivieres will host the finale of the four-game set tomorrow, with the Boulders enjoying a day offWednesday before starting a series in Newark on Thursday. The first three games of that series will be in Newark on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday before shifting to Provident Bank Park for the final game at 5:00 Sunday. That will mark the start of a seven-game homestand which includes three against Quebec, and the first ever visit of the American Association's Winnipeg Goldeyes.