AJ Wright confident as Ottawa Titans play crucial homestand in tight race for Frontier League’s wildcard playoff spots

By Théo Lemarchandel

On a serious roll in a crucial series after 51 games played this year, the Ottawa Titans find themselves at a high-stakes moment just ahead of the Frontier League’s mid-season break.

This week’s three-game series against the New Jersey Jackals at Ottawa Stadium — followed by six more home games on either side of next week’s All-Star Break — represents one of the Titans’ most important tests of the 102-game 2026 season.

The Titans entered the three-game set with New Jersey just behind the Jackals in the eighth and last qualifying place for the playoffs in the 18-team professional Frontier League. Playoff qualification is based on division ranking as well as winning percentage, and both the Jackals and Titans have been hovering around the .500 mark in the battle for wildcard spots.

But wins in the first two games against New Jersey have lifted the 26-25 Titans into 7th place overall and dropped the Jackals into 9th — now behind Kentucky-based Florence Y’alls — with 25 wins and 26 losses.

The final game of the series takes place tonight, Thursday, July 9. Before the league’s July 15 All-Star Game in Florence, Ottawa hosts New York state’s Tri-City ValleyCats July 10-12, then faces North Carolina’s Down East Bird Dawgs for three games July 17-19.

The other two Canadian teams in the Frontier League — the Quebec Capitales and the Trois-Rivières Aigles (who are in Ottawa for a three-game series July 24-26) — are at opposite ends of the league standings.

While Quebec — FL champions the past four years in a row — is shining at the top of the standings with a 35-16 won-lost record, Trois-Rivieres is at rock-bottom 18th place with a 17-34 record.

Titans infielder AJ Wright is currently in his fifth season with Ottawa. He says he has total confidence in his teammates heading into the season’s second half despite some ups and downs during the first half.

“New Jersey has been playing well lately,” said Wright.  ”We just need to put ourselves in a good position to win.”

With the Jackals and Titans neck-and-neck in the standings, the head-to-head matchup is important for both clubs as they battle for a postseason spot.

Despite some inconsistencies, the Titans have relied on their core strengths — especially pitching — to carry them through the first half of the season.

Wright said the key to winning more games is for Ottawa maintain pressure the entire game, and avoid being too comfortable with an early lead. The Titans have struggled with that issue recently, including in their recent series against the Sussex County Miners.

And with multiple injuries, Ottawa has struggled to perform consistently.

“I think staying healthy has been one of our biggest challenges in the first half of the season,” said Wright. “We had a few guys from Opening Day go down with injuries, so there have been a lot of moving pieces with the lineup and pitching staff.”

Ottawa has relied on a few of its veterans this year — namely Wright, Eric Pardinho and Brett Garcia, each of whom was selected to represent the Titans at the All-Star game.

“If being an All-Star means I’ve also helped my team, then that’s what matters most to me,” said Wright.

After back-to-back wins of 10-6 and 13-5 over New Jersey in the first two games of this week’s series, another win in Thursday’s final match would give a momentum boost to the Titans heading into All-Star break.

“If we can go into the break on a high note, get a few days of rest, and come back refreshed, it will help us in the long run,” said Wright.