10 Jun Miners Take Series From Quebec
Sussex County Takes Advantage Of Quebec Errors To Go To 9-2
June 10, Augusta, NJ – In a well pitched game by both sides tonight at Skylands Stadium, the Sussex County Miners took advantage of two Equipe Quebec defensive miscues to score all four of their runs in a 4-1 victory, moving their record to 9-2 on the young Frontier League season.
The Miners got seven strong innings from Billy Layne, Jr. tonight. The Seton Hall product allowed just a first inning run – scored on a sacrifice fly four batters in – and three hits through his seven innings. Layne walked two batters and struck out seven on the evening. A good night was also had by Quebec’s starter, Codie Paiva. He also went seven innings, allowing five hits and three runs in his time on the bump. Paiva walked just one batter and struck out six.
But it was two throwing errors that led to all of the Miners runs tonight. With two outs in the fourth inning, a Nilo Rijo ground ball to second base was thrown away, leading to both Daniel Herrera and Aaron Knapp to come home to give the Miners a 2-1 lead. Chuck Taylor would then knock Rijo in with a RBI double to make it 3-1 Sussex County. That score would stay until the eighth inning. Martin Figueroa would single, and then advance to third when a pickoff attempt sailed down the right field line. After John Jones was hit by a pitch, Cito Culver laid down a squeeze bunt, scoring Figueroa to put the score at 4-1.
From there, the Miners bullpen took over. Gavin Sonnier only allowed a bloop single in making his way through the eighth inning, turning it over to Jalen Miller, Sr., who worked a 1-2-3 ninth to notch his fourth save of the season. The last two batters that Miller faced were his two strikeout victims on the night.
Next, the Miners welcome the Tri-City ValleyCats back to Skylands Stadium for a four-game series that begins with a Friday night doubleheader at 5:05 pm. The Miners will also welcome to the ballclub former Major League All-Star and Home Run Derby Champion, Todd Frazier. The Toms River, NJ native will play in the first game of the doubleheader. Tickets for the weekend series, as well as all Miners home games, can be purchased at SCMiners.com. And, as always, all Miners home games can be seen on frontierleaguetv.com, and home and road games can be heard on the Miners Radio Network, mixlr.com/scminers