Friday night, the Ottawa Titans and New Jersey Jackals faced off, and for the majority of the contest they both traded blows. But everything would change during the eighth inning, in an outcome that would leave fans stunned.
Ottawa would draw first blood with Jackie Urbaez delivering a solo home run to right field off New Jersey’s starting pitcher Connor Maryniak.
The Jackals faithful wouldn’t have to wait too long for them to strike back.
In the bottom of the first inning, on a bloop to right field, Felix Stevens hit a single. Stevens would advance to second base and create the opportunity for Martin Figueroa to score.
Two pitches later, Gustavo Sosa would single on a line drive to center field. Opening up the path for Stevens to run across home plate, putting the Jackals ahead 2-1.
Both teams would stay silent from the second to the fourth inning. Ottawa would break through right at the start of the fifth inning.
It would start with a solo home run from Hunter Stokely; later in the inning, Jack Kalisky hit a double, allowing Caleb Burr to secure a 3-2 lead. The sixth inning would be all New Jersey, as a single by Noah Furcht allowed DeAmez Ross to score.
Isaac Bellony would repay Furcht for his single with one of his own, allowing Furcht to score, and he delivered. Giving the Jackals a 4-3 lead, which they held onto for the sixth and seventh innings.
The eighth inning is when this game flipped dramatically on its head. While the sixth inning was dominated by New Jersey, this inning was the complete opposite.
Ottawa had the bases loaded against pitcher Brendan O’Donnell, who came in relief for Andrew Peters. Titans third baseman AJ Wright would crush a grand slam on O’Donnell’s fourth pitch after coming in for relief.
In one swing alone, Wright would score along with Urbaez, Thomas Ferroggiaro and Austin Gurney. This shock wave flipped a one-run deficit into the Titans taking a 7-4 lead and having a stranglehold on this game.
Ottawa would never look back as their bullpen kept the Jackals from answering Wright’s momentum-changing swing. Holding the Jackals scoreless for the rest of the game as they won 7-4.
