Can-Am New Jersey Jackals

Jackals Rally Behind Clark's Grand Slam but Fall Short

Published on September 9, 2010 under Canadian American League (Can-Am)
New Jersey Jackals News Release


Quebec City, QC - With the New Jersey Jackals trailing 7-0, Kevin Clark hit a grand slam in the top of the seventh inning. But the Quebec Capitales hung on for a 7-4 win in Thursday night's playoff opener at Stade Municipal. Quebec leads the best-of-five series 1-0.

After Quebec starter Troy Cate held the Jackals scoreless through 6.1 innings, the Capitales turned to reliever James Kukucka, who loaded the bases on a pair of walks and a Travis Jones single to set up Clark's grand slam. However, that was as close as New Jersey would get as Quebec's Matthew Rusch allowed just one hit to earn the two-out save and preserve the Capitales victory. Cate earned the win.

Quebec opened the scoring in the bottom of the third when Alex Nunez singled with one out, advanced to second on a wild pitch, and scored on an RBI double by Goefrey Tomlinson. The next batter, shortstop Ivan Naccarata, lifted a sacrifice fly to center field give the Capitales a 2-0 lead. The Capitales extended their lead to 5-0 in the fourth inning thanks to a Robert Wagner RBI single and a two-run base knock by Tomlinson. In the fifth, a two-run homer by Sebastian Boucher helped the Capitales open up a 7-0 advantage.

Jackals' starter A.J. Wideman left the game in the fifth inning after allowing a leadoff double to Mike Thompson. In just his third start back off the disabled list, Wideman allowed six runs on nine hits over four frames while taking the loss. Ryan Lobban and Mike Pontius followed out of the New Jersey bullpen, and Romas Hicks fanned three batters over the final two innings to keep the Jackals in the game.

The bottom of New Jersey's order (Travis Jones, Angel Flores, and Clark) did the bulk of the damage for the Jackals, combining to go 5-for-11 with three runs and four RBIs. For Quebec, Tomlinson finished 3-for-4 with three RBIs.

The Jackals and Capitales play game two of their best-of-five series on Friday night at 7:05 p.m. at Stade Municipal when New Jersey sends southpaw Jayson Miller (4-4, 4.33) to the mound against Quebec right-hander Michel Simard (9-6, 5.23). A Jackals' audio webcast will not be available for game two, but fans can follow the action live on the Can-Am League's website via Pointstreak's Game Live application. Webcasts will once again be available when the series shifts to Yogi Berra Stadium on Saturday night.

The New Jersey Jackals, proud members of the Canadian-American Association of Professional Baseball, play their home games at Yogi Berra Stadium located on the campus of Montclair State University in Little Falls, NJ. Visit the Jackals online at www.jackals.com.

*Series Probable Starters:*

Friday @ Quebec - 7:05 p.m. - LHP Jayson Miller (4-4, 4.33) vs RHP Michel Simard (9-6, 5.23)

Saturday vs Quebec - 7:05 p.m. - LHP Isaac Pavlik (7-6, 3.73) vs RHP Karl Gelinas (4-3, 3.07)

Sunday vs Quebec (if necessary) - 5:05 p.m. - LHP Ryan Lobban (5-3, 5.56) vs RHP Dan Sausville (7-6, 3.11)

Monday vs Quebec (if necessary) - 7:05 p.m. - TBA vs TBA

Check out the New Jersey Jackals Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Canadian American League Stories from September 9, 2010


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central