Can-Am New Jersey Jackals

Jackals split double header

Published on July 10, 2006 under Canadian American League (Can-Am)
New Jersey Jackals News Release


Little Falls, NJ With the Can-Am League 1st Half Championship a wide-open 6 team race, the New Jersey Jackals went to battle against the Brockton Rox tonight in an extremely important doubleheader.

The Jackals returned to Yogi Berra Stadium after a week-long road trip that saw them continue their dominant winning ways. Coming into tonight's doubleheader, the Jackals were only a half game out of the league lead, with a very crucial 4 game series against a solid Brockton team to close out the 1st half staring them in the face. The Jackals daunting task: win 3 of 4 games, and, with a little help from Sussex and North Shore (who would need to split their series), be named champions of the Can-Am League 1st half.

Game 1 of the doubleheader saw the Jackals put themselves into a very uncomfortable position. Dropping the first game by a score of 6-2, they would now need to win out against the Rox if they wanted any hope of taking the 1st half crown.

New Jersey came out with a strong start offensively, taking a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the 2nd inning. After falling into an 0-2 hole, "The Mayor" John Lindsey led off the inning with a solo homerun off the top of the wall. After tripling, Joe Mihalics would come in to score on a sacrifice fly to right field by Clay Kuklick, but that would be all the scoring the Jackals could muster up in tonight's first game against their former Jackal pitcher John Kelly, who was on the mound for the Rox.

Brockton came right back in the top of the 3rd inning and tied up the game. Bill Peavey did his best Bill Buckner impression, as a routine grounder that would have gotten Jackals starting pitcher Aaron "Bulldog" Myers out of a jam scooted right through Peavey's legs. Two runs would score on the play, both unearned by Myers.

The Rox continued to pile on the offense in the top half of the 5th. After a base hit by Eugene Julien, Guye Senjem slapped a two-run homerun that just barely cleared the wall in right-centerfield. A solo shot to left field to leadoff the 6th inning would make it a 5-2 lead for Brockton, and they would add one more run on a throwing error by Jackals catcher Clay Kuklick, who sent one into left field as Rox CF Joe Hough stole 3rd and then scored on the error.

With the pressure on, the Jackals were in a must-win situation heading into the second game of the doubleheader...and they could not have possibly responded any better.

Game 2 was all New Jersey right from the start. Wilton Veras got the Jackals on the board in the bottom of the 1st inning with an RBI double, and Bill Peavey followed with an RBI on a fielder's choice to the first baseman.

The game would remain 2-0 until the home half of the 4th, when the Jackals would put the game away for good. Mihalics reached base on an error by the shortstop to leadoff the inning, and then proceeded to steal 2nd base just to rub it in. A Kuklick single on a chopper to 3rd base that took an enormous Jackals-friendly bounce, followed by a passed ball allowed by Rox catcher Jason Radwan, made it runners on 2nd and 3rd base for the Jackals with no outs. Guillermo Reyes, who had a terrific game both at the plate and in the field, came up big with a 2 RBI single up the middle to make it 4-0 in the Jackals' favor.

New Jersey starting pitcher Raul Valdez would get into trouble in the top of the 6th inning, but right-hander Jason Wylie was able to bail Valdez and the Jackals out of the tough spot, earning the save with a final score of 5-2. Valdez went 5.2 innings for the win, allowing 2 earned runs while striking out 4 and walking just 1. In taking the loss, Brockton right-handed rookie starter Santos Gonzalez allowed 7 hits over 3 innings, giving up 4 runs, though only 3 were earned.

After splitting the doubleheader, the Jackals now must win the last 2 games of this series. If they do, and Sussex and Worcester each lose at least one of their next 2 games, the Jackals will punch their ticket into the Can-Am League postseason as the champions of the 1st half.

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Canadian American League Stories from July 10, 2006


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