Casillas Leads Charge, Titans Win Tight Contest

OFFICIAL FRONTIER LEAGUE BOX SCORE

Ottawa, ON - Aaron Casillas' big offensive night headlined an Ottawa Titans (37-26) massive 6-5 win over the Tri-City ValleyCats (35-30) on Saturday, winning the series.

The rookie shortstop out of Cal Poly led the offensive charge - going 3-for-4 with a double, triple, and five RBI - as the Titans keep tabs on the third and final spot.

Scott Prins (ND, 2-3) made his return to the mound for the home side after duty with The Kingdom of the Netherlands National Team - only working an inning in the middle game of the series, seeing the ValleyCats jump out in front early with a pair of runs on two hits.

Down early, Wes Albert (loss, 0-2) was dealing for the visitors - retiring the first five in order - before the Titans struck with two down in the second.

After a hit by pitch and a walk reached base - Aaron Casillas poked a two-run double to right-centre, plating Lamar Briggs and Taylor Wright to put the Titans ahead 2-1.

In a tie game, the Titans got tremendous efforts out of the bullpen from Kyle White and Matt Voelker (win, 7-0) - who combined to toss seven innings of scoreless relief, only allowing five baserunners.

Needing to break the tie, the Titans turned to another two-out rally in the sixth. Brendan O'Donnell began the outburst with a triple to right-centre - as Lamar Briggs put the Titans ahead with an RBI single to right, knocking Albert out of the game. 

Facing right-hander Austin Dill, a Taylor Wright single joined Briggs on base - when Casillas once again came up clutch, lining a triple of his own to the right-field corner, scoring two to make it 5-2.

For good measure in the eighth, Casillas would bring home the eventual winning run - with an RBI single to right. All six runs for the Titans on the night came with two outs.

In the ninth, things got interesting as Zach Voelker allowed a pair of singles and walked one - giving way to Erasmo Piñales (save, 17) - in what became a save situation with the bases juiced and the potential tying run at the plate.

The all-star closer surrendered a two-run single to shallow centre off the bat of Tyson Gingrich to make it a two-run game, as runners stood on the corners. After a passed ball made it a one-run game, the potential tying run in Gingrich ended up standing 90 feet away - but Piñales was able to finish the job, striking out the side to save the victory.

The Ottawa Titans will now go for the sweep, wrapping up their three-game set against the Tri-City ValleyCats on Sunday afternoon at 1:00 p.m. from Ottawa Stadium. All the action can be heard on CKDJ 107.9 and 94,5 Unique FM and live-streamed on Flo Baseball.

For information on tickets, group outings, and nine-game mini packs, visit the Titans’ official website at www.ottawatitans.com.