Boulders Close Out Season As A Family-Friendly Attraction

Joe Weber stood outside Provident Bank Park in Pomona waiting for a friend Monday afternoon clinging to his homemade Rockland Boulders foam finger.

The dark blue finger itself wasn’t homemade. It bears a logo for a beer company on its ex-front side. Now the front displays a handwritten message: Go Boulders!

“I thought I’d only go to a game or two this year,” said Weber, of Nanuet. “But I just keep coming back.”

Monday was Weber’s fifth or sixth game, he can’t recall, and said he kept going back to games for a variety of reasons.

“It’s a beautiful park, a great atmosphere and a great time,” he said. “It surpassed my expectations.”

He said he’s also been impressed with the Boulders work within the community, adding one of the games he went to was EMS/Fire/Police Appreciation Night, which he enjoyed as a volunteer with the Nanuet Ambulance Corps.

And so on Monday, Weber, along with 3,800-plus others, got one last chance to see the Boulders this year, as Rockland finished off its season hosting the Newark Bears. After winning in Newark on Friday and Saturday, and again at home on Sunday, the Boulders (40-52) dropped the final of the four-game set against the Bears (41-52) Monday, 9-5.

Still, even though the Boulders won’t continue their inaugural season with a trip to the playoffs, Boulders manager Dave LaPoint said the season was a success.

“We had thousands of people come out to see us,” LaPoint said. “We had a great atmosphere and provided a great entertainment value.”

That’s partly why John Patterson and his son Jack Patterson, 9, came to four Boulder games this year from Ridgewood, N.J. in Bergen County.

“It’s nearby, they have a beautiful stadium and it’s inexpensive,” John Patterson said. “Plus it’s baseball and it’s family-oriented.”

Jack liked watching baseball, as well as eating cotton candy and popcorn.

One issue LaPoint noticed this yearn was getting people to the games on weeknights, which he thinks the team will improve on now with a year of experience. He said the season came so quickly it was a bit difficult to get the word out.

“It was a lot of work for everyone involved,” LaPoint said. “We spent most of the season trying to iron some problems, which we shouldn’t have to do next year.”

Still, LaPoint said even if only 1,500 people or so showed up to a game, it made a difference.

“With just 1,500 people, it’s loud in here,” he said. “Next year I think we can definitely average between 4 and 5,000 a game here.”

Not only does he think that because more people will be aware there is a baseball team in Pomona, but also because of Provident Bank Park itself. The park, which was also in its inaugural season this year, is a major selling point.

“It’s beautiful, the nicest stadium I’ve seen this side of the majors,” said LaPoint, who played for 10 different MLB teams in his professional career.

Jonathan Velasquez, who was the Boulders’ starting pitcher on Monday, said Provident Bank Park is the nicest stadium he’s ever played in.

Velasquez said he definitely noticed fan support for the team growing as the season went along.

“Our home opener was huge, and then the next game we didn’t have so many people,” he said. “But since, pretty much every game the fans have been better than the last one.”

Denise and Pablo Ramos, of Pearl River, were actually at most of those games. Monday was their 34th game of the year at Provident Bank Park, as the two are season ticket holders.

“It’s something fun to do,” Denise Ramos said. “It’s close, it’s a nice family atmosphere, we have a lot of friends that go to the games and it’s just great fun. Hopefully we can keep our season tickets next year, too.”

Play By Play

The Rockland Boulders lost the season finale to the Newark Bears by the score of 9-5 on Labor Day at Provident Bank Park.  Monday was also the final game in the career of former Met Howard Johnson.

In Johnson’s only at-bat of the day, he drew walk in the first inning and left to a standing ovation from the Boulders faithful.  HoJo would finish the game as Rockland’s first base coach.

Newark’s offense erupted in the first inning.  With one out, Ryan Walsh doubled to center field, scoring Chase Fontaine, and giving the Bears a one run lead.  Later in the inning, Burt Reynolds singled up the middle to score Walsh making it 2-0.

Rockland answered in the bottom of the inning.  With the bases loaded and two outs, Norm Hutchins singled to drive in Cole Kraft and Will Hassett (who was running for HoJo) to tie the game 2-2.

The Bears re-took the lead in the fourth on a two out, single from Paddy Matera putting Newark up 3-2.

Newark went back at it in the fifth, thanks to a two-run home run from Danny Santiesteban to extend the Bears lead to 5-2.

The Boulders added a run in the seventh on a solo shot from Kraft to cut the Newark lead to 5-3.

Newark plated four more in the eighth on five hits to extend the score to 9-3.

The Boulders scored twice in the bottom of the inning to finish the game at 9-5.