Can-Am Sussex County Miners

Early Lead Dissolves, Miners Lose Walk-Off

Published on August 19, 2015 under Canadian American League (Can-Am)
Sussex County Miners News Release


POMONA, NY - An early 6-0 lead did not last for the Sussex County Miners, as they fell to the Rockland Boulders on Tuesday night. The Boulders (51-27) came back twice and defeated the Miners (30-46) on a walk-off wild pitch in the bottom of the ninth inning, 8-7.

The Miners jumped out to a 4-0 lead just four batters into the ballgame. Jamal Austin and Johnny Bladel hit back-to-back singles and Jon Talley drove in Austin with an RBI single down the right field line. Ryan Mathews then drilled a three-run home run.

Talley added to the Miners' lead in the second. Sussex County loaded the bases with nobody out, but Bladel hit a grounder back to the mound and Boulders starting pitcher Bo Budkevics threw home to start a double play. Budkevics nearly escaped the inning unscathed, but Talley roped a two-run single up the middle to give the Miners a 6-0 advantage.

Rockland scored a pair of runs in the second and the Boulders came all the way back to tie the game in the third against Miners starter Kyle Vazquez. The Boulders loaded the bases on a double and two walks then Marcus Nidiffer drove home two runs with a double. Charlie Law knocked in another run on a groundout and Steve Nyisztor drove in Nidiffer with a game-tying double. Nyisztor tried to stretch his double into a triple and the Miners threw him out at third, but his hit capped a four-run inning that evened the score at 6-6.

Budkevics overcame his rocky start and shut the Miners down after the second. He held the Miners to just one more hit from the third through the seventh. Budkevics struck out a season- high 10 men and handed the tie game over to the Boulders' bullpen in the eighth.

With Budkevics out of the game, the Miners re-captured the lead in the eighth inning. Sussex County loaded the bases with two outs against reliever Daniel Carela and the Miners used small ball to take their second lead of the game. Jayson Hernandez bunted toward first base and Talley hustled home to score the go-ahead run.

The Miners led 7-6, but Rockland came back again. This time, Rockland catcher Alex DeBellis delivered the game-tying blow against Miners reliever Tony Amezcua. DeBellis hit a solo home run that narrowly cleared the right field wall and evened the score, 7-7.

The game remained tied going to the bottom of the ninth and the Boulders put the winning run on base in a hurry. Amezcua hit Junior Arrojo with the first pitch of the inning. With one out, Joe Maloney hit a ground ball single to left field that nearly won the game for Rockland. Arrojo rounded third, but stopped there.

Sussex County intentionally walked Nidiffer to load the bases, but the Miners did not get the double play they were looking for. Amezcua faced Law with the bases full and got the tall right- handed hitter to strike out swinging. The third strike pitch, however, was far outside and the ball got past Hernandez. Arrojo scored from third base on the wild pitch and the Boulders walked off with the win.

The Miners' loss was not the only walk-off in the Can-Am League on Tuesday night. Both of the teams the Miners are chasing for the last playoff spot in the league, the Trois-Rivieres Aigles and Ottawa Champions, walked off with wins. At the end of the night, the Miners fell to 6.5 games behind Ottawa for the last playoff spot.

Sussex County will face Rockland in the middle game of their three-game series on Wednesday night. First pitch at Provident Bank Park is scheduled for 7:05 PM.

Check out the Sussex County Miners Statistics

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Canadian American League Stories from August 19, 2015


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