Sussex County drops three in a row on the road
The Sussex County Miners dropped their third consecutive game on Saturday night, falling 5-4 to the Ottawa Titans on a walk-off sacrifice fly in the bottom of the ninth inning at Ottawa Stadium.
The contest featured several lead changes and timely home runs before Ottawa ultimately prevailed in dramatic fashion.
Making his first professional start for Sussex County, Jorden Sesar took the mound opposite Ottawa starter Max Martzolf. The Titans struck first in the opening inning after Jackie Urbaez reached on a hit-by-pitch and later scored on an RBI single by league RBI leader Justin Fogel, giving Ottawa an early 1-0 advantage.
The Miners answered immediately in the second. After Kiko Romero drew a walk, catcher Sandro Gaston launched a two-run home run to put Sussex County in front, 2-1. The blast marked Gaston’s first professional home run in three years.
Ottawa regained control in the third inning. The Titans loaded the bases with no outs before Cristian Inoa drew a bases-loaded walk to tie the game. A subsequent wild pitch allowed Urbaez to score, giving Ottawa a 3-2 lead. Sesar limited further damage by recording two outs to strand additional runners.
The Titans added another run in the fourth inning against reliever Blayne Huter. Following a single by Taylor Wright and a stolen base, Urbaez reached on an error that allowed Wright to score from second, extending Ottawa’s lead to 4-2.
Sussex County responded in the fifth. Makhi Backstrom singled to open the inning, and Sean Roby Jr. quickly erased the deficit with a game-tying two-run homer off reliever Michael O’Hanlon. The long ball was Roby Jr.’s team-leading fifth home run of the season and evened the score at 4-4.
Both bullpens settled in from there, keeping the game deadlocked through the middle innings. Sussex County’s pitching staff combined to hold Ottawa scoreless from the fifth through the eighth, while the Miners were unable to capitalize offensively against the Titans’ relief corps.
The game remained tied entering the bottom of the ninth. Ottawa threatened immediately against reliever Miles Langhorne after Inoa was hit by a pitch and Kaiden Cardoso drew a walk. A wild pitch moved both runners into scoring position with one out, and after Myles Smith was intentionally walked to load the bases, Taylor Wright delivered a sacrifice fly to score Inoa and give the Titans a 5-4 walk-off victory.
Gaston and Roby Jr. provided all four Sussex County runs with their home runs, while Backstrom added a hit and scored a run. Sesar struck out five batters in his first start for the Miners.
The loss drops Sussex County to 5-8 on the season and 1-6 on the road. It also marks the Miners’ first walk-off defeat of the year.
The Miners will look to avoid a series sweep on Sunday afternoon when they conclude their three-game set against Ottawa. First pitch is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.
Written by Justin Shepard with Scott Davies
Above: Ottawa Stadium, home of the Ottawa Titans. Photo by Tim Austen/Ottawa Titans.