In what started as a back and forth game, the Rockland Boulders lost to the New Jersey Jackals by a score of 11-5. Markus Solbach (6-1) picked up his first loss of the season after giving up 10 runs in 4 1/3 innings. New Jersey’s starter Matt Parish (4-3) earned a win with a five-run, 6 2/3 inning performance.
The Jackals offense picked up right where they left off last night in the first inning. They quickly loaded the bases for Bryan Joynt who hit a sac fly to right field allowing Rylan Sandoval to score the first run of the game.
However, the Boulders responded in the bottom of the inning. Jared McDonald led off with a walk and moved to third on a single by Dylan Tice. Cody Regis grounded a ball to second base but hustled down the line to beat out the double play attempt and picked up an RBI. Joe Maloney then doubled to drive in Regis and give Rockland a 2-1 lead.
Brian Burgamy gave the Jackals the lead back with a two-run home run in the third inning. Nonetheless, Jon Smith hit his second home run in as many games with Tice on base to retake the lead for Rockland.
New Jersey fought back starting with a single by Dvontrey Richardson who stole second base. Yariel Vargas hit a double to tie the game and Johnny Bladel’s double gave his team a 5-4 advantage. The Jackals broke the game open in the fifth inning by batting around and scoring five more runs.
In the seventh inning, New Jersey added another run via a bases loaded walk by Conrad Gregor with reliever Ari Kaufman on the mound. In the bottom of the seventh, the Boulders quickly got that run back. Aaron Wilson doubled, moved to third on an error by the third baseman and scored on a sac fly by Jared McDonald to make the score 11-5.
With the loss the Boulders are now 32-15 while the Jackals are 29-16. Rockland will try to avoid the sweep tomorrow at 11 a.m.