Can-Am New Jersey Jackals

Dominant Pitching, Clutch Hitting Lead Jackals To Doubleheader Sweep

July 30, 2011 - Canadian American League (Can-Am)
New Jersey Jackals News Release


Little Falls, N.J. - On a night in which they retired former outfielder Zach Smithlin's number four, the New Jersey Jackals (36-25 overall, 9-5 second half) swept the Pittsfield Colonials (29-30, 4-9) in a doubleheader at Yogi Berra Stadium. The Jackals won the opener, 4-2, before completing the sweep with a 2-0 victory in game two.

In the nightcap, New Jersey first baseman Kris Sanchez clubbed a two-run home run to break a scoreless deadlock in the sixth inning as James Leverton fired a complete-game, one-hit shutout to secure the sweep.

Leverton (8-4) allowed just two baserunners over seven innings and finished the contest by retiring the final 13 batters he faced en route to his first career complete game. Pittsfield reliever Chris Rubio (0-1) took the tough-luck loss, tossing four innings and allowing just two runs on two hits after starter Tim Stronach went two scoreless frames.

Myron Leslie finished the nightcap 2-for-2 with a walk, singling to lead off the sixth inning and scoring on the Sanchez home run.

In game one, Michael Moore shut down the Colonials in his first start with New Jersey and the Jackals took advantage of a pair of early Pittsfield errors as they held on for a 4-2 win.

As Moore held the Colonials off the scoreboard through six frames, New Jersey build up an early lead. In the bottom of the first inning, the Jackals plated a pair of unearned runs when Argenis Reyes and Leslie both reached on errors and scored to give New Jersey a 2-0 advantage. In the second, Nick Santomauro led off with a double and later scored on a Reyes single to make it 3-0. The Jackals extended their lead to 4-0 in the third inning when Mike Jones ripped a leadoff double off the right field wall and came plateward on an RBI single by Chris Anderson.

Pittsfield finally broke through in the top of the seventh. A leadoff infield single by Angel Molina chased Moore from the contest. Jared Locke then entered and gave up back-to-back hits, including a Chris Torres RBI double, which cut the Pittsfield deficit to 4-1. Later in the frame, the Colonials plated their second run on a sacrifice fly, but Jeff Gogal escaped, stranding the tying run on base as he notched his 11th save in as many chances this season.

Moore (3-0) picked up his third victory in four appearances with the Jackals, allowing just one run and five hits over six-plus innings. Three of the five hits Moore allowed were infield singles. Pittsfield starter Dave Qualben (4-5) took the loss despite tossing his fourth complete game of the season as he surrendered four runs (two earned) while scattering 11 hits over seven frames.

Offensively for New Jersey, Santomauro finished the opener 3-for-3 with a double while Jones doubled twice and Leslie went 2-for-3 with a run scored.

The Jackals and Colonials conclude their three-game series on Sunday afternoon at 2:05 p.m. at Yogi Berra Stadium when New Jersey sends southpaw Jon Kibler (0-3, 6.33 ERA) to the mound against Pittsfield left-hander T.J. Wink (2-0, 2.84 ERA). Cody Chrusciel and Matt Sutor have the call on the live webcast beginning 15 minutes prior to first pitch at www.jackals.com.

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Canadian American League Stories from July 30, 2011


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