Can-Am Sussex County Miners

Miners Lose, Fall out of Playoff Contention

August 28, 2015 - Canadian American League (Can-Am)
Sussex County Miners News Release


AUGUSTA, NJ - The Sussex County Miners fell mathematically out of playoff contention on Friday night with a 4-2 loss to the Rockland Boulders at Skylands Stadium. Rockland (57-31) came from behind and beat the Miners (35-53) and Sussex County watched as the Trois- Rivieres Aigles and Ottawa Champions both won, thereby ending the Miners' hopes at a playoff berth in their inaugural season.

Sussex County had a 2-1 lead going into the seventh inning, but Rockland raced its way into the lead thanks largely to Junior Arrojo. After Jared McDonald led off the inning with a single, Miners reliever Tony Amezcua hit Arrojo with a pitch. Amezcua (1-3) then hurled back-to-back wild pitches. The first wild pitch moved the runners to second and third. The second wild pitch tied the game, as McDonald crossed the plate.

The Miners still had not recorded an out and Arrojo was on third base, but Amezcua nearly escaped the inning tied. The right-hander got Stephen Cardullo to pop out to first and then struck out Joe Maloney. Amezcua was one out away from leaving Arrojo on third and the reliever worked the count to 1-2 on Marcus Nidiffer, but Arrojo made a heads-up play to give Rockland the lead.

Arrojo took a big lead from third base and inched closer to the plate as the pitch crossed home plate. While Miners catcher Jayson Hernandez held the ball after the pitch, Arrojo kept creeping closer. Finally, Hernandez lofted a soft toss back to Amezcua and Arrojo took off for the plate. Nobody on the Miners' defense noticed in time and Arrojo stole home to give Rockland a 3-2 lead.

The Boulders added a run in the ninth on a sacrifice fly and led 4-2 going to the bottom of the ninth. Rockland starter Bo Budkevics went back out to the mound for the ninth, but could not finish the game. Budkevics (4-4) recorded two outs, but was removed from the game when he allowed the tying run to reach base. He fell one out shy of his fourth complete game of the season.

Luis Sanz came in to the game for Rockland with Brady Wilson on third and Devin Thaut on first. Sanz struck out Hernandez to end the game and pick up his 17th save. Budkevics earned the win, while Amezcua took the loss for Sussex County.

Miners starter Julio Rodriguez took a no-hitter into the sixth, even though he had given up a run in the third. Rodriguez had walked six men and hit a batter in the first three innings, enabling Rockland to score in the third on three walks and a sacrifice fly by Nidiffer.

Steve Nyisztor broke up Rodriguez's no-hitter in the sixth inning, but the Miners' starter still earned a quality start. Despite walking seven men, Rodriguez only allowed one run on two hits, over six innings. He struck out six Boulders hitters, including two each in his final two innings. The Miners face the Boulders again on Saturday night at Skylands Stadium. First pitch is at 7:05 PM.

Check out the Sussex County Miners Statistics



Canadian American League Stories from August 28, 2015


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