Grills Tosses Quality Outing, Titans Sweep ValleyCats

OFFICIAL FRONTIER LEAGUE BOX SCORE

Troy, NY - Riding a quality start from veteran lefty Evan Grills (win, 3-0), the Ottawa Titans (34-27) swept their third series of the season with a 7-3 win over the Tri-City ValleyCats (25-38) on Thursday night - extending the winning streak to four in a row.

With the first two aboard in the top of the first, Taylor Wright and AJ Wright executed a double steal, with ValleyCats catcher Ranko Stevanovic throwing the ball away down the left field line, plating Taylor Wright to open the scoring.

Before the inning was over, a two-out RBI single to left from Jake Steels off left-hander Adam Maher (loss, 2-1) doubled the lead at 2-0.

Making his return to the New York state capital region for the first time since 2013 as a member of the Astros organization, Grills stranded a pair of runners in scoring position in the first before a two-out two-run single from RJ Stinson in the second tied the game.

Tied at two, Caleb Burr smashed a go-ahead RBI double to straight-away centre in the fourth, scoring a Daniel McElveny walk all the way from first to give the Titans the lead back for good.

In the fifth, Taylor Wright crushed a no-doubt solo homer of Maher over the right field fence to make it 4-2. The North Vancouver product set a new career high in the process with his tenth long ball of the season.

With Maher done after five, the ValleyCats turned to southpaw Brayhans Barreto in the sixth, who was knocked around as the Titans added more insurance. Steels opened the frame with a solo homer to left for his first of the year while an RBI single from Mitsuki Fukuda and a fielder's choice off the bat of Taylor Wright pushed the advantage to as much as 7-2.

Although having a shaky start, Grills locked in, giving the Titans six innings of two-run ball to win his third game of the year. Grills allowed just three to reach over his final four innings of work to let the lead stand up. In his first career win against the ValleyCats in four starts, the Canadian lefty allowed six hits, walked one, and fanned six.

Michael Vilchez allowed an unearned run over two innings of work while Brett Garcia slammed the door with a clean ninth to cap off the win.

Jake Steels went 2-for-4 with a solo homer and drove in two runs. AJ Wright and Michael Fuhrman each walked twice. The Titans also set season-highs with six stolen bases as a team and four errors defensively in the win.

Ending the season series with the ValleyCats, the Titans win it for just the second time in team history, taking eight of the 12 matchups. The sweep marks the first time that the Titans have busted out the brooms in Troy.

The Ottawa Titans continue a six-game road trip with the opener of a three-game series against the Trois-Rivières Aigles on Friday night at 7:05 p.m. at Stade de Trois-Rivières in Trois-Rivières, Québec. After the trip, the Titans return home to end July with a seven-game homestand starting on Tuesday night, welcoming the Sussex County Miners with a doubleheader starting at 5:30 p.m. at Ottawa Stadium. All the action can be heard on the Ottawa Titans Radio Network and 94.5 Unique FM, and live-streamed on Frontier League TV powered by HomeTeam Network.

For information on Ottawa Titans’ 2026 Single-Game Tickets, 10-Game Mini Packs, and Group Outings, visit the Titans’ official website at www.ottawatitans.com.