Twin Rallies Silence Titans in Opener

OFFICIAL FRONTIER LEAGUE BOX SCORE

Ottawa, ON - The Ottawa Titans (37-38) fell back under the .500 mark in an 11-3 loss to the Québec Capitales (52-24) on Friday - as the club suffered their fourth consecutive loss.

Looking to do early damage, Marc-Antoine Lebreux clubbed a leadoff ground rule double to right off Titans starter Evan Grills (loss, 3-4) to kick off the game - ending up 90 feet away moments later on a wild pitch. Two batters later, Ruben Castro started the scoring with a sacrifice fly to right.

Hector Sepulveda (win, 2-0) shut down any sort of momentum the Titans' offence had in mind through five and two-thirds of solid baseball. The right-hander allowed just three base runners over the first four innings, stranding a two-out walk and a Justin Fogel double in scoring position in the fourth inning.

The Capitales rode the momentum from their starter to plate a leadoff Jesmuel Valentin single in the fifth inning to make it 2-0, as Anthony Quirion poked an RBI single to right.

Sending nine to the plate in back-to-back innings against Grills, the Capitales poured it on with three in the sixth and four more in the seventh to put the game out of reach.

Facing the Capitales for the third time in eight starts, Grills was done after six and two-thirds, allowing a season-high nine runs (eight earned) on ten hits, walking four, hitting two, and striking out two in the defeat.

Taking advantage of three walks in the seventh inning, the Titans broke the scoreless bid from Sepulveda as Justin Fogel brought home Kaiden Cardoso's leadoff free pass with a sac fly to right.

The Titans got to left-hander Franklin Parra in the eighth inning, connecting for two runs on three hits. With the bases loaded, AJ Wright grounded into a 5-4-3 double play, scoring a Cardoso leadoff single. Next, Fogel brought in his second of the night with an infield single, scoring Jake Sanford's double.

After Brandon Marklund allowed an inherited runner to score in his third of an inning of work - right-hander Kyle Demi got the side in order in a clean eighth inning.

Billy Duby surrendered a pair of runs in the ninth, going just two-thirds of an inning before Shane Gray took the hill to get the final out of the frame.

Offensively, the Titans did not record their first hit until the fourth - then had to wait until the eighth for their remaining three hits.

Justin Fogel went 2-for-3 with a double and two RBI, while AJ Wright and Jackie Urbaez each walked twice. Jake Sanford went 1-for-3 with a double and a walk. Kaiden Cardoso chipped in with a 1-for-2 night, also drawing a walk.

The Ottawa Titans continue the homestand with the second of a three-game series against the Québec Capitales on Saturday night at 6:00 p.m. at Ottawa Stadium. The final leg of the homestand will see Florence pay a visit for the first time since the 2023 season. All the action can be heard on CKDJ 107.9 and live-streamed on Frontier League TV, powered by HomeTeam Network.

For information on Ottawa Titans’ 2025 Single-Game Tickets, Group Outings, and 2026 ticket packages, visit the Titans’ official website at www.ottawatitans.com.