June 22, 2005

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Pinch-hitter Adam Rogers singled home Casey Rowlett in the bottom of the ninth inning as New Jersey defeated the Crosscutters, 4-3, in front of a sellout crowd of 5,319 at Skylands Park.

Former Tiger James Boone was 1-for-4 and hit his first home run for Williamsport on Tuesday night.

In the New York-Penn League season opener for both teams, Rowlett singled off reliever Derek Moeves (0-1) with one out and took second when Dan Nelson was hit by a pitch. Rogers came off the bench and laced a single to center to end the game.

New Jersey starter Nicholas Webber retired all 12 batters he faced, but was replaced by Roy Dickerson to start the fifth. Webber fanned four. Matthew Trent (1-0) pitched a 1-2-3 ninth to earn the win.

The Cardinals opened the scoring in the second on Dan Nelson's sacrifice fly. It was the only run allowed by Williamsport starter Luis Valdez in four innings.

The Crosscutters knotted the score in the seventh inning. Steven Pearce led off with a single and eventually scored on a groundout by Christopher Jones. New Jersey got the lead back with two runs in the bottom of the inning as Chad Gabriel delivered an RBI double and came home on Nelson's base hit.

Williamsport got to Cardinals reliever Michael Gross for two runs in the eighth. Brent Lillibridge led off with a triple and scored on a groundout by Cameron Blair. Boone hit a two-out solo homer to make it 3-3. --Tim Leonard/MLB.com