PATERSON - The Jackals left the field on Saturday night knowing they let a win get away against the Tri-City Valleycats in their 8-5 loss.
Sunday’s game was meant to be a response for the Jackals.
They responded by scoring 16 runs in the first four innings of the game, including six home runs that would give them a 16-12 victory over the Valleycats (45-27) at Hinchliffe Stadium. This gave them a series win against the visitors this weekend, and a slight lead for first place by a ½ game in the Frontier League’s East Division.
“We came out aggressive,” Jackals manager P.J. Phillips said about his team's win. “We were mad about last night. We wanted to come out and respond to it. Our offense has carried us all year, and I knew they would come through for us.”
It also helped that Valleycats starter Elijah Gill struggled to find the strike zone in his four innings of work. He allowed 16 runs on 11 hits and seven walks while giving up six home runs.
James Nelson kicked it off by hitting a two-run home run, and Alex Toral hit a two-run home run to give the Jackals a 4-0 lead in the first inning.
“We needed that from him”, Phillips said of Nelson’s day that featured three home runs. “He was locked in. He came out determined to get the job done.”
The home team scored three runs to extend their lead to 7-0 in the second inning when Nelson hit another two-run home run that was followed by Keon Barnum’s home run.
They batted around in the third inning, and it resulted in them scoring seven runs in that inning. From there, it appeared to be a blowout in the making as they took a 14-0 lead.
Rusber Estrada and Nelson hit home runs in the fourth inning to complete the Jackals’ scoring spree. By then, the score was 16-2.
“I keep it simple,” Nelson said after hitting his 21st, 22nd and 23rd homers of the season. “I see the ball and hit the ball. I spoke to Ti’Quan (Forbes) before the game, and I told him I was going to sit at the pitches and be patient.
The Valleycats chipped away by scoring five runs in the fifth after scoring two runs in the fourth. They kept it going by scoring a run in the seventh inning, three runs in the eighth and a run in the ninth. But that was as good as it got for them as the Jackals held on to win.
Despite the Cats making it interesting, it was hard to believe the home team was going to blow it for the second straight game, especially when they tacked on so many runs early to on to get a cushion.
“I honestly trust the team to get it done, and I trust my teammates,” Nelson said when he was asked if there was pressure to win the rubber game of the three-game series at home. “We just came out to play. Overall, we always come into the field to put in the work, and I expect nothing less.”
Despite all the challenges the Jackals face all season from teams in their division, they managed to still be in first place by playing good baseball consistently all season long.
“We have a good team,” Phillips said. “They are a smart, intelligent team. This whole team is good. We compete at a high level by treating every game as if it’s important.”
Nelson understood the importance of this rubber-game series at home.
“We played a good ballclub all weekend,” he said.
The Jackals and Valleycats will resume their three-game weekend series at Joseph L. Bruno Stadium in Troy, New York starting on Friday.
But first things first, the Jackals will have another three-game Frontier League divisional showdown against the Quebec Capitales starting Tuesday night at Hinchliffe Stadium.
Notes:
The Jackals wore their Silk City red unis for this contest.
Jorge Tavarez started for the Jackals in this game. It was his fourth start of the season. He started for them recently after missing the first 10 weeks of the season because of a visa issue back home in the Dominican Republic. He gave up seven runs (six earned), seven hits and three walks while striking out six hits to go 4-0 for the season.
Keon Barnum (27), Josh Rehwaldt (24) and James Nelson (23) are the top three home runs leaders in the Frontier League.
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