Historic comeback for the Titans!
Friday June 28, 2024
Tuesday, the Ottawa Titans (23-17) began a new three-game series in the capital against the New England Knockouts (12-29) at Ottawa Stadium. The Ottawa squad completes their third sweep of the season, including their second against the Brockton team.
Match #1 : Knockouts 2 – 4 Titans
In the first game of the series, Bobby Brown’s squad narrowly won despite complete domination. In the first inning, Jackie Urbaez opened the scoring by hitting a solo home run to right field for his third of the campaign. Then, in the third, Christian Ibarra hits the ball to Luis Atiles who is unable to make the play due to a defensive error, allowing Taylor Wright to bring it home to make it 2- 0 Ottawa. The next inning again went to the Titans’ advantage thanks to a sacrifice fly from captain Jason Dicochea, making it 3-0 for the Ottawa squad after four complete innings of play.
In the top of the fifth, the Knockouts finally found a way to get on the scoreboard on a double by JR Disarcina and a sacrifice fly by Austin White. At the halfway point, the score was 3-2 in favor of the Titans. The last run of the game was produced by Jamey Smart in the seventh inning on a single to left field. The Ottawa team still recorded 12 hits in the game. On the other hand, the Titans left nine runners on the bases.
On the mound, Tyler Jandron (win, 4-2) was credited with the victory by pitching six innings of work, giving up two runs on four hits, allowing three walks and striking out three batters. Jandron has now won four of his last five outings on the mound. McLain Harris, Matt Dallas and Erasmo Piñales (saves, 10) combined for three scoreless innings to help the Titans end their two-game losing streak.
For the visitors, Liam O’Sullivan (defeat, 1-5) did not have his best evening of work. In six and a third innings, he allowed four runs on nine hits, in addition to allowing two walks and only recording two strikeouts.
Player of the match: Jackie Urbaez (Titans)
The Miami native was able to set the tone for the game by hitting a home run in the first inning. He finished the game with a 2-for-4 record and an RBI.
Match #2 : Knockouts 8 – Titans 9 (6 manches)
In the second game of the series, the fans got their money’s worth! The game was an offensive festival during the fourth and fifth innings. After two innings of play, everything was going well for starting pitchers Matt Voelker (OTT) and Matt Cronin (NE). In the third inning, the Knockouts broke the ice by recording the first three runs of the game thanks to singles by Brady West, Jalen Garcia and Ramon Jimenez, ending Voelker’s evening on the mound. However, New England had not said their last words. In the following inning, Shane Gray (win, 3-2) came on the mound in relief for the first time this season. The visitors continued to accumulate runs by recording five this time! Doubles by John Cristino and Tommy Kretzler made it 6-0. Subsequently, the score became 8-0 on singles by Jalen Garcia and Noah Lucier.
With an eight-run deficit to make up, the Titans decided to go for it for good. Nine runs were scored in the bottom of the fifth inning to complete one of the most historic comebacks in Frontier League history. Seven Ottawa players had the chance to produce at least one run for their team. Jason Dicochea, Taylor Wright, Brendan O’Donnell, Christian Ibarra, AJ Wright, Jamey Smart and Michael Fuhrman all participated in the Titans’ offensive festival.
In the top of the sixth inning, Gray was able to strike out Kretzler for the first out, but the rain invited itself into the game to finally announce, 30 minutes later, that the game was definitely over and that the Ottawa team won the game by a score of 9-8 against the New England Knockouts.
Player of the match: Brendan O’Donnell (Titans)
The Titans newcomer recorded his first hit and first RBI in his first career game in the professional ranks.
Match #3 : Knockouts 3 – 4 Titans
In Game 3 of the series, the Titans had to settle for solid performances on the mound from Peña, Harris, Dallas and Piñales. It all started in the bottom of the second inning with runners on end and no outs. Victor Cerny hit into a double play, but still allowed Dicochea to score the first run of the night. Half an inning later, power hitter John Cristino slammed a sacrifice fly to left field to tie the game. In the bottom of the fourth, the Titans captain drove the ball to left field to take the lead back 2-1 thanks to Jason Dicochea. In the next inning, Jamey Smart made it 3-1 with a sacrifice fly to the outfield. In the top of the sixth, Jalen Garcia recorded his third RBI of the two-game series with a solo homer. Lamar Briggs took charge in the next half-inning and hit his first home run of the season in just two games as a Titans player, giving up a 4-2 lead after six full innings of play. We move to the top of the ninth where Erasmo Piñales unfortunately gave up his first earned run of the season due to a single to right field by Noah Lucier. Ottawa found a way to win 4-3 and sweep the Knockouts for the second time this season. In 2024, the Titans are 8-1 against New England.
On the mound, Bryan Peña (win, 2-3) pitched well in his fourth start of the season. In six innings of work, the left-handed pitcher allowed two runs on four hits, allowing three walks and recording five strikeouts. McLain Harris, Matt Dallas and Erasmo Piñales (save, 11) managed to preserve the lead.
For the visitors, Ben Seiler (loss, 1-3) threw 103 pitches in just 4.2 innings of work. He allowed three runs on eight hits, walking two and striking out three. Reliever Mike McKenna gave up the Titans’ fourth run.
Player of the match: Lamar Briggs (Titans)
In his second game in a Titans uniform, he was able to hit his first home run of the season. He finished the game with a 2-for-4 record with a single, a home run and an RBI.
The Titans’ next series begins this Friday, June 28, as the Ottawa squad begins a three-game series against the New Jersey Jackals at Ottawa Stadium. The first and third meetings will be presented via webcast on the Unique FM website (Broadcasts – Ottawa Titans). The second game of the series will be presented on 94.5 with Mikael Lafleur on description and Cédric Morrissette on analysis. The first match of this series will be broadcast from 6:30 p.m.!
To listen to the highlights of the Titans’ historic comeback, the audio can be found at the end of the article below.
Photo credit © Tim Austen, photographer for the Ottawa Titans
Article written by Mikaël Lafleur, 94.5 Unique FM
