Late Rally Sparks Titans Sudden Death Walk-Off Victory

OFFICIAL FRONTIER LEAGUE BOX SCORE

TROY, NY - Headed to Sudden Death for the second time in the span of a week, the Ottawa Titans (7-8) squeaked out a 5-4 victory over the Tri-City ValleyCats (6-10) in the extra innings tiebreaker on Tuesday, snapping their two-game skid.

Facing the ValleyCats for the second time in as many outings, Shane Gray (ND, 1-0) and the Titans fell behind in the first - as Javeyon Williams tagged the starter for a solo homer.

Down early, the Titans had their hands full against right-hander Arlo Marynczak (ND, 0-0) - who hurled three scoreless innings to begin the night.

Alec Olund's two-out double to the gap in left-centre added to the ValleyCats lead in the third - with the first two who reached against Gray coming across to score.

AJ Wright got the Titans on the board with a two-out solo blast in the fifth against Marynczak. The reigning Player of the Week's fifth long ball of the year led to him extending his hit streak to ten consecutive games.

The two-out homer triggered a bit of a rally - as a Jason Dicochea double came around to score as Jake Guenther bounced an RBI single up the gut, cutting the deficit to one.

Gray managed to keep the Titans within a run - putting together his longest outing of the season. The righty went eight and allowed three runs on seven hits, walking two, and striking out four in his second quality start of the season.

After Austin Dill retired all ten that he faced in order - Greg Blackman came on for the ninth looking to complete the save. It all went for not as on the first pitch of the inning - Jake Sanford launched a solo blast to right, tying the game at three.

With both teams exchanging runs on RBI singles in the tenth - Sudden Death was required. As the home team, the ValleyCats elected to defend - seeing the Titans sending up the heart of their lineup with the game on the line.

Nathan Medrano (loss, 2-3) inherited the start-up runner at first - with Jamey Smart and Jake Sanford ripping singles to load the bases with nobody out. Following a strikeout, Taylor Wright cashed home the winning run with a sacrifice fly to left - plating Jake Guenther.

In the win, the Titans saw three different players record multi-hit performances and win their third contest all-time in Sudden Death against the ValleyCats.

The Ottawa Titans continue their three-game set against the Tri-City ValleyCats on Wednesday night at 6:30 p.m. from Joseph L. Bruno Stadium in Troy, New York. 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.