Valleycats show resilience against Jackals

Baseball, New Jersey Jackals, Professional

August 6, 2023

PATERSON - Tri-City Valleycats manager Pete Incaviglia sounded like a proud coach after congratulating his players on Saturday night.

He told his players that it was a gutsy win after the Valleycats (45-26) rallied to an 8-5 victory over the Jackals (44-26) at Hinchliffe Stadium. Both teams even the series after the Jackals took the first game of the three-game series with a 5-1 victory on Friday night.

“It was a good comeback win,” Incavaglia said after his team took over first place in the Frontier League’s East Division. “The guys kept battling. We found a way to win. They (The Jackals) are a good team, and we are a good team. It said a lot about us as a team to find a way to win a game like that.”

After the Jackals scored five runs in the fourth inning on two-out back-to-back-to-back home runs by Alfredo Marte (three-run home run), Alex Toral (solo) and Rusber Estrada (solo), the Valleycats started their comeback trail by scoring two runs in the fifth inning on two-out RBI singles by Jaxon Hallmark and Cito Culver.

The Cats made it a 5-4 game with two outs in the sixth inning on back-to-back home runs by Jakob Goldfarb and Aaron Altherr off Jackals starter Dylan Castaneda, who was promptly relieved by Yuichi Shiota, who got the final out of that inning.

From there, the visiting team put on a show in relief.

Greg Veliz relieved in the sixth after Valleycats starter Dwayne Marshall struggled in five innings by allowing five runs on six hits with five walks, including giving up back-to-back-to-back home runs in the fourth inning.

He put himself in a bind by allowing a double to Marte, a walk to Toral and a free base to Estrada on a hit by pitch to start the inning. To his credit, he maneuvered his way out of it by striking out Kevin Rolon, getting Ti'Quan Forbes to pop out and having Martin Figueroa fly out to end the inning.

This paved the way for the Valleycats to tie the game at five in the seventh inning. After Lamar Briggs got on base on a fielder’s choice that had Culver out at second, Juan Kelly was supposed to ground out at first, but Rolon threw the ball away in his attempt to give it to Toral for the out, so Kelly advanced to second and Briggs scored from second on that error.

The Cats not only made the home team pay for not getting a run in with the bases loaded in the sixth, but they also made them pay on an error. This is where momentum went the visitors’ way.

Tyler Jeans followed Veliz by pitching in the seventh and eighth inning for the Valleycats, and he struck out five of the Jackals in his two innings of work.

“He threw the ball well,” Incaviglia said of Jeans’ performance. “He throws well. He throws in the 90s. He knows how to use his slider.”

Blake Workman pitched a scoreless ninth inning after relieving Jeans.

With the game still tied at five in the tenth inning, the Cats took control of their inning by scoring three runs, giving them an 8-5 lead. Kelly served as the ghost runner to start the inning, and he immediately stole third. Oscar Campos’ RBI single off Jackals reliever Cody Whitten scored Kelly, giving the Cats’ first lead of the game and breaking the tie. Then, Altherr hit a two-run home run (his second of the game) to complete the scoring of that inning.

Workman finished the game by getting Josh Rehwaldt to strike out and inducing Marte and Toral to ground out while James Nelson was stranded at second as the ghost runner. His two scoreless innings earned him a win.

“The pen has been good,” Incaviglia said of his bullpen pitching five scoreless innings. “They have been our strength this season."

Was this the Valleycats” best win of the season?

“No,” Incavaglia replied, “We have had better ones.”

It may not be the best win of the season, but it was good enough for the Cats to be back in first place by ½ game while the Jackals could only wonder what could have been as they went back to their clubhouse after the game.

The rubber game of the three-game Frontier League East showdown will take place on Sunday at 4:35 p.m.

Jackals Notes:

Jackals catcher Rusber Estrada now has the franchise record for most home runs at 128 after homering in the fourth inning.

Paterson Mayor Andre Sayegh attended the game.

The Jackals turned a triple play in the fourth inning by forcing Jorge Campos to induce a triple play, which Lamar Briggs at 3rd and Juan Kelly at 2nd failed to tag up after running before Campos grounded out to Jackals starter Dylan Castaneda.

Lance Lusk (8th inning) and Matt Vogel (9th inning) joined Yuichi Shiota and Cody Whitten in relief for the Jackals.