Boulders Split Double Header With Pittsfield

PITTSFIELD, Mass – The Rockland Boulders stormed back to win game one of Thursday afternoon’s double-header against the Pittsfield Colonials, however, dropped the second contest to split the twin bill with their opponent.

After being down 7-2 late in game one, the Boulders rallied to win 8-7 but then dropped the next contest 12-5 to snap their season-high four game-winning streak.

The Boulders jumped out to an early lead in game one, as Mike Richard led off the game with a single.  With two outs, Cristobal Santana doubled in Richard to give Rockland the first run of the contest.

The lead didn’t last long, as Pittsfield plated three in the home half of the first.  Billy Mottram doubled in two, and then scored on an Angel Molina ground out to give the Colonials a 3-1 advantage.

Rockland got one back in the third after back-to-back two-out triples by Ryan Mollica and Jeremy Slayden.

The Colonials quickly erased that run in the last of the third.  Danny Bomback hit a triple of his own and then scored on a wild pitch by Casey Hodges to bring the Pittsfield lead back to two.

Pittsfield added two more in the fourth. Chris Torres smacked an RBI single to center that brought Peter Fatse around to score.  Later in the inning, Bomback hit an RBI single of his own to score Scott Knazek and increase the Colonials’ lead to 6-2.

Angel Molina made that lead 7-2 in the bottom of the fifth with his third home run of the season.

Norm Hutchins hit a solo shot of his own in the top of the sixth to bring the Boulders back within four.  The blast was Hutchins’ fourth of the season, and his third on the seven-game road trip.  Later in the inning, the Boulders loaded the bases without recording an out.  Mike Richard later singled in Scott Clement, and then Ryde Rodriguez came home on a wild pitch.  Chase Weems then scored when Mollica reached base on an error by Fatse.  Slayden followed with an RBI single that knotted things up at seven apiece.  Santana then hit a sacrifice fly to center to give the Boulders an 8-7 lead.

Adrian Martin locked things up with this league-leading 15th save of the season.

Game two saw Pittsfield jump all over Rockland’s starter Bobby Blevins for eight runs on seven hits, as the Boulders’ ace only lasted one inning.

Chris Torres and Scott Kanazek both went three-for-three at the plate in game two, while Kanazek helped even further by driving in six runs.

MacKenzie King threw a complete game for his second win of the season, striking out three in the club’s 12-5 victory.

The Boulders will come back home after the long road trip this evening, and welcome the Quebec Capitales to Provident Bank Park for a three-game series.  First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.

Rockland will send Ryan Knippschild (0-1) to the mound this  evening to take on Quebec’s Bryan Rembisz (5-1).