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New Jersey Jackals

Zuercher Dominant As Jackals Suffer Setback Against Tornadoes

June 11, 2011 - Canadian American League (Can-Am)
New Jersey Jackals News Release


Little Falls, N.J. - The Worcester Tornadoes spotted Zach Zuercher an early lead and the southpaw fired seven shutout innings as the Tornadoes defeated the New Jersey Jackals 10-1 on Saturday night in front of a season-high 3,585 fans at Yogi Berra Stadium.

Zuercher (3-1) allowed just four hits while striking out five batters as he improved to 5-1 in nine career starts against the Jackals. Albert Ayala pitched a perfect eighth inning before the Jackals broke through reliever Rick Asadoorian for their lone run in the bottom of the ninth inning on a Mike Jones RBI single.

The Tornadoes struck Jackals' starter James Leverton for four runs in the top of the first inning on a Mark Minicozzi RBI single, a run-scoring double by Nick Salotti, and a two-run home run to right field off the bat of Alex Trezza. Worcester tacked on a pair of third-inning runs when Tony Patane flared a two-out, two-run single to right field to make it 6-0. A sixth-inning two-run double by Minicozzi extended the Worcester lead to 8-0 before the Tornadoes capped their scoring in the ninth inning when Minicozzi homered and Patane lifted a sacrifice fly.

Minicozzi, who entered the night with a league-best .411 batting average, finished 4-for-5 with four RBIs. Worcester first baseman Chris Colabello and designated hitter Nick Salotti each contributed three hits. For New Jersey, Jones went 2-for-4 with a double while second baseman Argenis Reyes went 2-for-3.

Leverton (1-2) took the loss after allowing six runs on eight hits over four innings. Mike Pontius followed with two innings of relief and Bobby Gagg pitched the final three frames.

The Jackals and Tornadoes conclude their three-game series on Sunday afternoon at 2:05 p.m. at Yogi Berra Stadium when New Jersey sends southpaw Ryan Kulik (0-0, 9.00 ERA) to the mound for his second start with the team against Worcester right-hander Matt Smith (1-1, 10.22 ERA). Cody Chrusciel and Matt Sutor have the call on the live Jackals webcast beginning 15 minutes prior to first pitch at www.jackals.com

Jackal Bites: The Jackals have allowed a first-inning run in nine of 15 games this season... Entering Saturday, James Leverton had allowed two runs or less in each of his first three starts... The all-time series between New Jersey and Worcester, which began in 2005, is now even at 46-46... Infielder Mike Demperio, who signed with New Jersey on Thursday, made his Jackals' debut when he entered at second base for Argenis Reyes in the seventh inning.

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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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.

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