FL New Jersey Jackals

2022 Begins with a Bang

Published on May 14, 2022 under Frontier League (FL)
New Jersey Jackals News Release


New Jersey Jackals pitcher Juan Perez
New Jersey Jackals pitcher Juan Perez
(New Jersey Jackals, Credit: Preston Leinenbach, Evansville Otters)

Evansville, Ind. - The New Jersey Jackals opened their 25th Anniversary season on the road and they opened the offensive floodgates as well, plating nine runs against the Evansville Otters in the first ever meeting between the two clubs, a 9-5 victory for New Jersey to make them 1-0 on the young season.

A theme throughout Spring Training was the excitement surrounding the offense, especially the returning stars from last season's campaign. It didn't take long for that narrative to carry over into the contests that counted, as First Baseman Dalton Combs unloaded on a Tim Holdgrafer offering in the top of the second inning to stake New Jersey to an early 1-0 advantage.

The Jackals doubled up their next time at the dish, following the old baseball adage of "Get 'em on, get 'em over, get 'em in." Trevor Abrams reached on a defensive miscue by Otters' Third Baseman J.R. Davis, promptly stole second base, moved to third on a single by Second Baseman Santiago Chirino and completed the circuit on a fielders choice smash hit by Right Fielder Josh Rehwaldt.

Evansville responded in the fourth and fifth innings, tallying single runs in each of those frames. The second run chased Jackals starter Leonardo Rodriguez from the game, but the massive 6'7" right-hander had turned in an eyebrow-raising performance of 4.1 IP, 6 K's and 2 BB's until then. Three of those strikeouts came consecutively in the third inning to escape a bases-loaded jam.

New Jersey tallied its first big inning of 2022 in the sixth, plating five runs in quick succession. Shortstop Justin Wylie laced an RBI single, followed by a two RBI double off the bat of Catcher Jason Agresti. Center Fielder Todd Isaacs continued the conga line around the Bosse Field bases with a 2 RBI single of his own to set the advantage at 7-2 New Jersey. Wylie would tack on a two-run homer to make it 9-2 in the seventh.

Chris Tessitore made his first relief appearance of the season and was greeted rather rudely by the Otters, who punched two of his 28 pitches on the evening over the wall for home runs. The first was a two run homer by Justin Felix, the second a solo job by Miles Gordon, which made it 9-5 heading into the 9th inning. Hansel Rodriguez was able to keep the Otters from swimming any closer, posting a one-two-three bottom of the ninth to secure the win.

New Jersey remains in second place in the Eastern Division, one game behind 2-0 Sussex County. They continue their season-opening six game, two city road trip with a 7:35pm ET first pitch at Bosse Field tomorrow. LHP Jared Milch for New Jersey will be opposed by RHP Justin Watland for Evansville. You can catch all the action on FloSports by clicking the "All Games Streamed Live" banner on the jackals.com home page and creating an account if you have not already done so.

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Images from this story

New Jersey Jackals pitcher Juan Perez
New Jersey Jackals pitcher Juan Perez
(Preston Leinenbach, Evansville Otters)		   



Frontier League Stories from May 14, 2022


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