Lardner, Wright Power Titans to Series Win

OFFICIAL FRONTIER LEAGUE BOX SCORE

Ottawa, ON - Mac Lardner (win, 3-2) tossed seven scoreless innings while AJ Wright went 2-for-3 with a double, a homer, and three RBI - helping the Ottawa Titans (24-27) to an 8-0 blanking of the Tri-City ValleyCats (28-23) on Wednesday. The club has now won five in a row, ten of their last 11, 13 of their previous 16 overall, and five consecutive series.

It did not take long for the Titans to get the scoring started against veteran right-hander Wes Albert (loss, 0-1) - as a walk and a single reached base to open up the bottom of the first. AJ Wright rocketed his team-leading 16^th double of the year off the left-field fence to plate Jackie Urbaez. Two batters later, Nolan McCarthy lifted a sacrifice fly to left, scoring Aaron Casillas to double the lead.

The support was all that Mac Lardner would need, as the southpaw faced one more than the minimum through five innings.

In the third, the Titans answered for more - as Wright ripped his fifth home run of the season the opposite way to right. The two-run blast extended the lead before Victor Cerny notched his tenth double of the campaign to score a Justin Fogel walk later in the frame to make it 5-0.

The ValleyCats' starter was taken out after four - allowing five runs on six hits, walking two, and striking out three.

After leaving two on in the sixth and seventh innings - Larder's night was completed following seven scoreless frames - allowing four hits, walking two, and striking out four. The lefty earned his first quality start of the year in his longest outing of the campaign.

Nate Nabholz kept the game close for the ValleyCats out of the bullpen with two clean innings - before Dan Brown walked three and hit two, as the Titans pushed across three more for good measure in the bottom of the eighth.

Victor Cerny and Jackie Urbaez each recorded RBI walks - while Dylan Driver was credited for a run knocked in with a hit by pitch with the bases juiced. In the big inning, the Titans sent nine to the dish.

In relief, all-star Billy Duby and Shane Gray finished the night on the mound with scoreless frames - as the Titans record their third clean sheet of the season.

Justin Fogel extended his hitting streak to nine games in a row, while Aaron Casillas went 3-for-5 to push his on-base streak to 15 consecutive games. Along with AJ Wright, all-star Victor Cerny recorded two hits in the win.

The Ottawa Titans continue the final homestand of the first half with the finale of a three-game series against the Tri-City ValleyCats on Thursday night at 6:30 p.m. at Ottawa Stadium. The team will then battle the Québec Capitales over the weekend in the final series before the All-Star break. All the action can be heard on CKDJ 107.9 and 94,5 Unique FM and live-streamed on Frontier League TV, powered by HomeTeam Network.

For information on Ottawa Titans’ 2025 Season Tickets, Group Outings, and Nine-Game Mini Packs, visit the Titans’ official website at www.ottawatitans.com.