While dark clouds brewed on the horizon for most of the afternoon, the rain held off long enough to allow Ottawa baseball fans to enjoy an excellent game on Sunday between the hometown Titans and the visiting Sussex County Miners.
The Frontier League teams split a doubleheader on Saturday and Ottawa Stadium was packed with first responders and their families for Sunday’s rubber match, which was dedicated to local heroes.
The game began as a back-and-forth pitchers’ duel, with Sussex County’s Charlie Neuweiler and Ottawa’s Tyler Jandron overpowering batters with well-located fastballs and devastating breaking pitches.
Things got dicey for the Titans in the third inning as they allowed baserunners on three straight mishandled bunts with no outs. A line drive double into the gap by Miners’ third baseman Hunter D’Amoto brought two runs home, portending serious trouble for Ottawa. But the Titans rallied to get out of the inning, as a pivotal fielders’ choice out at the plate shifted the momentum for the home team.
The Titans broke Neuwiler’s no-hit bid in the fourth inning with a single from first baseman Jamey Smart into left field. The visiting hurler bounced back, though, picking up clutch strikeouts on some well executed sliders.
It’s gonna be a battle. All you ask is that when you’re in August, you’re playing meaningful baseball.
Bobby Brown, Titans manager
The Miners took advantage of a string of singles in the fifth to plate another run, making the game feel out of reach for a Titans team that couldn’t find their rhythm. However, there was still plenty of game left and the tide was about to turn.
The Titans broke through in the sixth inning, giving hope to the Ottawa faithful. Despite Neuweiler having great command, Titans hitters ground out long at bats that allowed them to pick up three walks on the day, two of which came in the sixth. The free passes proved vital, as a Smart double into right field brought both runners in to score.
On the pitching side, Tyler Jandron recuperated from the runs he gave up and turned in a quality seven-inning start. Elite closer Erasmo Pinales entered the game in the eighth inning and shut the door, giving the Titans the chance to tie the game.
Ottawa tied the game in the eighth on a sequence of plays that included a wall-scraping double, a hit batter, a wild pitch and a sacrifice fly. The Titans were not able to tack anything else on, but it was a new ballgame.
Pinales came out again in the ninth and rewarded his manager’s confidence in him by shutting the door on the Miners. If the Titans wanted to avoid extra innings, the time had come for a clutch run.
The bottom of the ninth began with Titans left fielder Jake Hjelle taking first base after being hit by a pitch. He was immediately moved over to second after centrefielder Taylor Wright successfully laid down a sacrifice bunt, setting up what proved to be the last at bat of the game.
Peyton Isaacson is a new member of the Titans who came over recently from the New York Boulders. This series was his first with Ottawa, and each of his prior at-bats had been a struggle.
“I simplified it and was just looking for something I could put a good swing on,” Isaacson said later. “I didn’t care where the ball went out, I just knew I was the right guy in the right spot and I just kind of think that increased my focus.”
The ball was laced by Isaacson into right field and Hjelle slid safely into home plate, ending the game with 4-3 Titans win.
“I just hit first base and turned around to see if Hjelle was gonna get in there — and he was in there,” Isaacson said. “I kind of blacked out. I didn’t know what I did, but I saw the boys running and I just started jumping up and down yelling, ‘It’s lit!’”
This game didn’t always look like it would end with a Titans triumph, but the clubhouse seemed to believe, largely because of great performances from the pitching staff.
“I think we had one of our ace pitchers on the mound and he battled,” said Titans manager Bobby Brown. “He gave up a couple runs early but he settled in and gave us seven innings. And then we went to the best reliever in the league and he gave us two zeros, and it gave us a chance to climb back into it.”
The Titans are now n a six-game road trip in New York and Quebec. These games will be crucial, as the Titans find themselves in a tough race to make the playoffs in a very tight division.
With identical 43-34 win-loss records, the Titans and Boulders are deadlocked for second in the FL’s eight-team East division, 9.5 behind the Québec Capitales and just a half game ahead of the Tri-City ValleyCats of Troy, N.Y.
The 16-team Frontier League playoff format has the second- and third-place clubs in each of the East and West divisions compete in a wildcard game to qualify for a best-of-three divisional final. The East and West winners then meet in a best-of-five Championship Series that will wrap up no later than Sept. 15.
The Titans have 19 games left in their 96-game regular season, which ends Sept. 1.
“It’s gonna be a battle,” Brown said. “All you ask is that when you’re in August, you’re playing meaningful baseball.”
