Can-Am New Jersey Jackals

Pavlik Fans Career-High 13 as New Jersey Runs Winning Streak to Nine

Published on September 1, 2011 under Canadian American League (Can-Am)
New Jersey Jackals News Release


Little Falls, N.J. - Southpaw Isaac Pavlik struck out a career-high 13 batters as the New Jersey Jackals (56-33 overall, 29-13 second half) notched their ninth consecutive win, downing the Newark Bears 7-2 on Wednesday night at Yogi Berra Stadium. The Jackals, who have won 13 of their last 14 contests, remain a game and a half ahead of the Worcester Tornadoes in the second half standings with four games left in the regular season.

Offensively, Brian Sabatella drove in three runs for the second straight night while Sandy Madera went 3-for-5. Sean Smith finished 2-for-4 with three runs scored, his seventh home run of the season, and four stolen bases, giving him a Can-Am League-record 46 thefts on the season.

The Bears built up a 2-0 lead against Pavlik, plating a run in the third inning on a Paddy Matera RBI single and another run in the fourth on a Chase Fontaine base hit. New Jersey responded with seven unanswered runs to close out the contest.

With Newark ace Alex Smith on the mound, the Jackals plated five runs in the bottom of the fourth to take the lead. Nick Giarraputo led off with a double, Chris White walked, and Mike Richard singled to load the bases. Sean Smith followed with a run-scoring walk to cut the New Jersey deficit to 2-1. The next batter, Bryan Sabatella, singled home two runs to give the Jackals a 3-2 lead. Myron Leslie then popped out to second base, but Ryan Walsh hung onto the baseball while Sean Smith scampered home on what went down as a sacrifice fly to the infield to give New Jersey a 4-2 advantage. The Jackals made it 5-2 when Sandy Madera smoked an RBI triple to center.

Sean Smith helped the Jackals tack on their final two runs. In the sixth, the Jackals' centerfielder led off with a home run to make it 6-2. In the eighth, Smith led off with a walk, stole two bases, and scored on a Sabatella single.

Pavlik (13-3) allowed two runs on six hits over six innings, walking just two batters while fanning 13. Alex Smith (9-3) took the loss for the first time since July 2, yielding six runs on 11 hits while walking five batters and striking out two in six frames. For New Jersey, Steve Fox notched four strikeouts in two shutout innings of relief before Jeff Gogal worked a scoreless ninth, inducing a game-ending double play to seal the victory.

The Jackals and Bears meet for the final time in 2011 on Thursday night at 7:05 p.m. when New Jersey sends right-hander Shawn Ellis (5-3, 4.02 ERA) to the mound against Newark righty Pedro Rivera (0-1, 7.45 ERA) at Yogi Berra Stadium. Neal Poloncarz fills in with the call on the live webcast beginning 10 minutes prior to first pitch at www.jackals.com.

JACKAL BITES: The Jackals nine-game winning streak marks their longest streak of the season. New Jersey had won eight games in a row twice... Sean Smith passed Marcus Nettles and Kraig Binick for the league steals record. The previous mark was 45, set by Nettles in 2006 with the New Haven County Cutters and Binick in 2010 with the Sussex Skyhawks... Pavlik's previous career high was 12 strikeouts, set on June 15, 2007 against the Can-Am League Grays... With his 13-strikeout performance, Pavlik overtakes Worcester's Zach Zuercher for the Can-Am League strikeout lead... With the victory, the Jackals improved to 8-3 against the Bears this season with New Jersey emerging victorious in all five meeting in the second half... New Jersey starting pitchers have allowed three earned runs or less in each of the team's last 17 games... Newark outfielder Danny Santiesteban struck out three times, giving him 99 on the season to break the previous Can-Am League record of 97... With 17 strikeouts in the contest, New Jersey pitchers have now fanned 631 batters this season to pull within 35 of the franchise record (666, set in 2004) with four games remaining in the regular season... With Alex Smith on the mound, left-handed hitters Kris Sanchez and Mike DeJesus got the night off... The win gives New Jersey seven consecutive series victories.

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. 2011 single-game tickets, season tickets, mini-plans and group outings are available by calling 973-746-7434. Visit the Jackals online at www.jackals.com.

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Canadian American League Stories from September 1, 2011


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