Ottawa takes game one of the weekend series
The Ottawa Titans used a late offensive surge to defeat the Sussex County Miners, 6-2, in the opener of a three-game series on Friday night.
For much of the evening, the contest featured a strong pitching duel between Sussex County starter Billy Parsons and Ottawa’s Kevin Miranda. The two right-handers kept opposing offenses in check through six innings before the Titans broke through in the seventh.
Ottawa mounted its first scoring threat against reliever Dalton Fowler. Justin Fogel opened the inning with a walk before Christian Inoa singled to center field. Heitor Tokar then reached on a fielder’s choice bunt, with Fogel being retired at third base. With runners on first and second, Aaron Casillas lined an RBI double to left field to score Inoa and give the Titans a 1-0 lead. Later in the inning, Tokar crossed the plate on a Sussex County error to extend the advantage to 2-0.
The Miners responded in the top of the eighth. Haiden Walters reached base and later scored when Edwin Mateo delivered an RBI single. Moments later, Mahki Backstrom added another run-scoring hit, plating Hunter D’Amato to tie the game at 2-2.
Ottawa answered immediately in the bottom half of the inning. A.J. Wright and Jackie Urbaez opened the frame with walks against Colin Kelly, and Fogel was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Parker Primeaux entered in relief and got ahead of Inoa with two strikes, but a walk forced home the go-ahead run.
The Titans continued to capitalize, as Miles Smith followed with a two-run single to provide insurance and push Ottawa’s lead to 5-2. Ottawa added another run later in the inning to account for the final 6-2 margin.
Sussex County falls to 5-7 and is 3 1/2 games out of first place in the Atlantic East Division.
The Miners and Titans continue the series Saturday evening with first pitch scheduled for 6:00 p.m. Sussex County will look to even the series before the clubs wrap up the weekend set on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. local time. Watch all Miners games live on HomeTeam Network and listen to the live Miners Radio Network broadcast on Mixlr.
Above: Ottawa Stadium, home of the Ottawa Titans. Photo by Tim Austen/Ottawa Titans.