Ottawa's baseball team is headed deeper into the playoffs after a dominant finish to their first-round series. The Ottawa Titans blanked the New Jersey Jackals 6-0 in Game Two on Saturday night, completing a sweep of the best-of-three Atlantic Conference Wild Card Series and sending the club to the Atlantic Conference Championship Series.
How the sweep came together
Ottawa entered the wild card round as the No. 3 seed, taking on New Jersey as the No. 2 seed. The Titans opened the series with a comeback win on Thursday night, scoring four unanswered runs late in the game after trailing by multiple runs at the midpoint to take Game One by a 4-2 final.
There was no drama in Game Two. Backed by a four-RBI night from Taylor Wright, Ottawa put the series away with a 6-0 shutout of the Jackals on Saturday. Winning pitcher Eric Pardinho was the story on the mound, going six shutout innings while allowing just four hits and two walks and striking out seven batters. That combination of Wright's bat and Pardinho's arm was enough to close out the series in two games rather than three.
What it means for Ottawa
For a city that has embraced the Titans as one of its home teams, the sweep keeps the summer going into September. Game One is set for Tuesday night at 6:30 p.m.
The Boulders present a new opponent and a new set of challenges, but the Titans arrive having shown they can win both a close, late-inning battle and a game that was never in doubt.
What's next
Ottawa's championship series run begins Tuesday night against New York. With the wild card round decided in Ottawa's favour, the Titans now shift their focus to a best-of-five format that will demand more from the pitching staff and lineup depth over a longer stretch of games. Pardinho's six shutout innings in Game Two suggest the rotation is sharp heading into the next round, and Wright's four-RBI performance shows the offence can produce in bunches when it matters.
Fans in Ottawa looking to follow the run will want to keep an eye on Tuesday's 6:30 p.m. first pitch against New York, the opening game of a series that will decide who represents the Atlantic Conference further into the playoffs.
Ottawa's playoff summer
Now the Titans are adding a deep playoff run to the city's fall sports conversation, with a shot at the conference title on the line starting this week.
Sources: OurSports Central, Ottawa Titans (official team site)
