Brockton Walks Off Rockland

BROCKTON, Massachusetts – The Rockland Boulders dropped their seventh straight game on Tuesday night after the club lost in extra innings 6-5 to the Brockton Rox in Can-Am League action.

In the bottom of the 10^th, Rockland first baseman Norm Hutchins committed an error on Keith Brachold’s hit down the right side, which allowed Chris Monger to move from first to third.  With one away, Monger trotted home after Chris Grossman provided the game-winning RBI.

Rockland got on the board early after Sean Smith poked one past Rox center fielder Chris Valencia, plating Vic Buttler.  Hutchins followed with an RBI double, giving the Boulders the quick 2-0 lead.

Brockton answered with a run of its own in the bottom of the first, but Rockland would cancel it out after Ryan Mollica’s sacrifice fly gave the Boulders a 3-1 edge after two.

The Rox bats came alive in the bottom of the third, as they tied the game with two more runs on three hits.  A sacrifice fly in the fourth by Mike Torres would give Brockton a 4-3 advantage.

Brockton starter Freddy Flores retired nine straight Boulders from the third to the fifth, however Rockland evened the score in the seventh after two hits and Mollica’s second sacrifice fly of the game.

The Rox immediately erased the Boulders run in the bottom of the seventh.  A double by Melvin Falu chased Rockland starter John Muller from the mound.  Brett Carroll came in to relieve Muller and gave up a single on his first pitch to Brachold, giving Brockton the 5-4 lead.

The Boulders took advantage of Brockton’s pitching change in the top of the eighth. Smith reached base after being hit by pitcher Jake Hale. Then back-to-back singles by Todd Jennings and Tommy Giles plated Smith to knot things up at 5-5.

Rockland would drop their second extra innings game though, as they fell to Quebec on Saturday night in 11 innings.  Mike Gardner is charged with his second loss after throwing 1 1/3 innings and allowing one run on one hit.  Dustin Birosak picked up his first win in a Brockton jersey, striking out a pair over two innings.

With the loss, Rockland dropped to 5-10 on the season while the Rox move to 11-7. These two teams go back at it in the finale of the two game set, with first pitch at 7:05 p.m. for Campanelli Stadium.  Great tickets are still available for Boulders home games, and for more information call 845-364-0009 or slide to rocklandboulders.com