[jksander]

September 11, 2025: We had just one day off before tonight’s Championship Series game one at Bosse Field, which gave us time to rest the bullpen, though most are still at least somewhat worn down due to the length of our clinching game in the Divisional Series. Hayden Minton (0-0, 3.86 ERA, 4.2 IP, 7 K’s, 1.50 WHIP) got the start against Adam Seminaris (0-0, 6.23 ERA, 4.1 IP, 6 K’s, 1.38 WHIP), and we’re hopeful he’ll have another solid start to keep us in a good position to take an early series lead. Bryan Arias is back in the lineup, batting second for us.

Ottawa drew first blood in the top of the third with a two-out solo homer by left fielder Jacob Rhinesmith, his second of the season in the playoffs this year, and they added more damage in the top of the fourth with an RBI double by first baseman Spencer Henson. A third run scored on a sac-fly, giving us a 3-0 hole to dig out of. We responded with an RBI double by Riley Delgado to get on the board in the bottom of the fourth, and a groundout to first by Betancourt drove in another, cutting our deficit to a single run heading into the fifth inning. With two outs and a man on first, Collin Baumgartner came in to pitch, securing the final out via strikeout to keep us battling. But in the top of the sixth the Titans hit an RBI single to extend their lead, and in the top of the seventh they added another with an RBI double. Our bats were going to need to give the bullpen some help, or this would get out of hand quickly. Brian Edgington came in and got the final out, and Jasiah Dixon got us a run back with an RBI single in the botom of the seventh, stealing second with the count at two balls, no strikes for Arias, who they walked to fill the hole at first. Avelino got a great shot into right field, the ball bouncing into the corner and driving in another with a double that put two in scoring position! Lopez hit into a fielder’s choice, Dixon getting tagged out at home plate, a popout by Moralez sending us into the top of the eighth trailing still 5-4. Riley Delgado walked to lead off the bottom of the eighth, a move they regretted instantly as Tim Borden batted him around to score with an RBI double that tied things up. Just minutes later, Alemais hit a great drive into left and drove in the go-ahead with a single, Dixon batted in two more with a double, Oscar Silverio drove in another with a deep sac-fly to center, and we went into the top of the ninth leading by four massive runs. Edgington stayed out there, getting a groundout and a pair of K’s to wrap this one up as a 9-5 victory!

Minton and Baumgartner combined for 6.2 innings with seven hits, four walks, nine strikeouts and five earned runs, but Edgington remained razor sharp out there, throwing 33 pitches in 2.1 innings with one hit, two walks and four strikeouts as he earned the win. He’s now 1-0 with a 0.96 ERA in the playoffs through 9.1 innings pitched! We outhit Ottawa 12-8, though five of those came in the bottom of the eighth as everyone in the lineup took at least a swing. Jasiah Dixon led with two hits, two runs and three RBIs, while Alemais hit twice for a run and an RBI and Lopez hit three times for a run. Arias walked twice but couldn’t score, and they sure wouldn’t give him anything to hit -- so everyone else made up for it!

September 12, 2025: Seth Lonsway (1-0, 3.60 ERA, 10.0 IP, 14 K’s, 1.30 WHIP) made his third start of the playoffs tonight, facing Joseph King (1-0, 1.69 ERA, 5.1 IP, 2 K’s, 0.94 WHIP) who was making his second. Somehow we packed just shy of 8,000 into this place, and they were making enough noise you could hear the place rocking half a mile away! But there weren’t a lot of offensive fireworks early on in ths pitcher’s duel. Lonsway walked three batters and allowed just one hit in the first five innings, and we picked up three hits and one walk during the same stretch, no runners getting past second base! But with two outs in the top of the sixth, Lonsway gave up back to back doubles, and just like that we were down 1-0 to the Titans ... it happened so fast you could hear all our fans gasp collectively. Another double followed, adding a second run, before he got the final strikeout to end the inning with us trailing 2-0 out of nowhere. Wesley Moore came out to pitch in the top of the seventh and he pitched brilliantly, keeping us in this one despite our offense’s inability to score any runs. He pitched through the top of the ninth without any further scoring by Ottawa, but we needed something big to keep our chances alive. It didn’t happen. They shut us down quietly and won this one easily 2-0 in a brutal defensive battle.

Lonsway lasted six innings with four hits, three walks and three strikieouts, allowing both runs -- he now has a 1-1 record with a playoff ERA of 3.38, which in this league is incredibly good. Moore gave us three no-hit innings, striking out two and walking another, giving him seven playoff innings without a run scoring on him. But though we outhit them 5-4, we just weren’t able to hit in the clutch. Avelino hit twice, and Morales hit and walked once each. But we never got a single runner past second base all night.

Now we head north of the border, and the Titans have home field advantage unless we can steal a game and take the momentum back.

September 14, 2025: Oh Canada, how cold as hell it is ... 6,700 fans showed up at Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton Park, with clear skies and teamps in the low 40s for first pitch at just past 8:00. Isaiah Jackson (0-0, 16.20 ERA, 3.1 IP, 3 K’s, 2.70 WHIP) is up in the rotation, going up against Reggie Lawson (0-0, 12.27 ERA, 3.2 IP, 2 K’s, 2.18 WHIP), both pitchers having started the playoffs with rough outings. And tonight Jackson’s outing started off just as shakily, giving up a triple to their first batter and then a one-out RBI double by Cadyn Grenier, their slugging shortstop, gave the Titans a 1-0 lead. Their third baseman, Jackson Glenn, hit an RBI double to make it 2-0, and a few minutes later he plunked a batter on the shoulder to load the bases, still two outs. Finally we got out of there with a strikeout swinging, but the damage had been done and he threw 37 pitches ... this is going to be a rough night for the bullpen. Their guy gave us nothing to hit, and Jackson settled in but wasn’t able to negate his first inning woes. Casey Anderson came in with one out in the bottom of the fifth, no one on base, loading the bases himself before finally getting a pop-out to center that ended the inning without Ottawa scoring. In the top of the sixth, Jefferson Morales then finally broke their pitcher’s no-hitter, slamming one out of the park to left to get us on the board! We kept it going in the top of the seventh, Betancourt hitting a two-run double with two outs, and just like that we’d gotten ourselves a one-run lead, heading into the stretch leading 3-2.

Wesley Moore came in to pitch in the bottom of the inning, and the Titans pounced quickly -- with one out they got a two-RBI double off right fielder Shane Selman that immediately flipped them back into the lead. Moore pitched around loaded bases to get us out of the inning, and Matt Ball came out for the bottom of the eighth, giving up back to back hits and then hitting their batter to load the bases, and the game completely fell apart from there. A two-run double, a run off a sac-fly, and then Breck Eichelberger came in with us trailing by four. They walked in another run with two outs, and with the bases still loaded they drove in two more with another double to kick us while we were down. Eichelberger got the final out, but we went into the top of the ninth trailing by seven Betancourt grounded out to first but drove in a run to cut the lead to six, and an Alemais grounder into right field got us a fifth run. But we weren’t able to keep it going further, and lost this one 10-5.
 
Jackson’s start was marred by that first inning, but he made it through 4.1 innings with just four hits, striking out six, walking one and giving up just two earned runs. And Anderson allowed just two hits with two walks and two strikeouts to keep us in the game and get us the lead after 1.2 innings. Unfortunately Moore, who had been lights out all through the playoffs, coughed up three hits, a walk and two earned runs, taking a blown save and the loss. Ottawa outhit us 13-6, however, so they were dominant throughout -- that we had a chance to win is impressive in its own right. Morales led the way with two hits, a walk, three runs and an RBI, while Betancourt hit once and batted in three.

September 15, 2025: I didn’t think it could get colder and nastier than last night, but I was wrong -- outdoor Canadian September baseball is damned near a war crime. Adam Smith (0-1, 6.23 ERA, 8.2 IP, 7 K’s, 1.62 WHIP) pitched against Collin Sullivan (0-0, 0.00 ERA, 4.1 IP, 4 K’s, 0.79 WHIP). They scored a run off a sac-fly to take another first-inning lead and our luck seemed to be running out after our miracle performances in the Divisional Series. But Betancourt hit an RBI single in the top of the second to tie things up, and Alemais hit another single into right to drive in the go-ahead, helping warm our spirits in the bitter cold. Smith got us through the fifth inning without surrendering the lead, and with two outs in the bottom of the sixth Matt Ball came out to get the final out, keeping us precariously ahead by that single run. Wesley Moore came out again to pitch in the top of the seventh, safely getting us through the inning though I was concerned that our manager brought him out again when Baumgartner, Edgington, Gibson and Rivera were fully rested. Luckily we were able to string some hits together in the top of the eighth, Riley Delgado batting in an insurance run with a single, and we went into the bottom of the eighth with a slightly more comfortable two-run lead. Moore got us through that inning as well, and Jasiah Dixon hit a two-run homer over the wall in center to extend our lead to four in the top of the ninth! Erik Rivera came out to pitch in the bottom of the inning, and he promptly walked the bloody bases loaded, and they called a balk on him to cut our lead to three ... JESUS! A strikeout and a popout followed, but Gabriel Cancel, their third baseman, hit an RBI single, and he walked the bases loaded again, bringing out Brian Edgington to try and avoid disaster. Edgington immediately hit their star player, Cadyn Grenier, leaving us just a one run margin of error ... but we survived, a weak grounder to short and a fielder’s choice throw out at second ended this as a 5-4 win by the skin of our teeth. Do we absolutely have to survive on a razor’s edge?

Adam Smith improved to 1-1 with a 4.40 ERA thanks to 5.2 innings with six hits, a walk, four strikeouts and one earned run. Ball and Moore held the lead with a hit, a walk and two strikeouts between them over 2.1 innings, but Rivera damned near blew it with a hit, a walk and a strikeout while getting two outs. Edgington earned the save, throwing six pitches to get the final out, keeping his ERA at 0.93 through the playoffs. We outhit the Titans 10-8 as we evened the series, led by Dixon with two hits, a run and two RBIs and by Lopez with two hits, a walk and two runs. And at the very least this win does give us the chance to guarantee a return to Bosse Field in this series, so however we got it, we’ll take it.