On a chilly Friday evening, the New Jersey Jackals faced the league leading Quebec Capitales in the opening game of a three game series, securing a 7-4 win to put them two games above .500. The Jackals entered the matchup looking to build off Wednesday’s victory over the Sussex County Miners after Thursday’s game was postponed because of rain.
Right-hander Sonny Fauci made his third start of the season for the Jackals, searching for his first win. Fauci worked around early traffic in the first inning with help from first baseman Dariel Gomez, who made a diving stop to his right for the opening out. Quebec centerfielder Chavez Young drew a four pitch walk before Fauci picked him off at first base on a full count. After issuing another walk, Fauci escaped the inning when rightfielder Ruben Castro grounded out to shortstop Connor Maryniak.
Left hander Francis Ferguson got the start for Quebec and retired the first two batters before walking New Jersey second baseman Daunte Stuart. Stuart later stole second after Ferguson attempted a pickoff move to first while second baseman Antonio Valdez was not covering the bag. Ferguson stranded Stuart when Felix Stevens grounded out to end the inning.
Quebec struck first in the second inning. Antonio Valdez reached on a fielder’s choice before leftfielder Jordan Smith singled and catcher Arturo De Freitas walked to load the bases. Third baseman Yuta Hamada followed with a soft liner over Maryniak’s head, bringing home two runs and giving the Capitales a 2-0 lead. Fauci settled down afterward, recording a groundout and strikeout to limit further damage.
The Jackals responded immediately in the bottom half of the inning. Rightfielder Martin Figueroa opened with a single after falling behind 0-2 in the count. Maryniak then beat out a potential double play ball, setting the stage for Gomez, who lined a double down the right field line to move Maryniak to third. Catcher Gustavo Sosa capped the rally with a three run home run to right center field, putting the Jackals ahead 3-2.
“Right before that, I told him, ‘Hey, I’m going to get you back up here.’ Sure enough, I went out there and did it. It felt great,” Sosa said about his three-run home run.
Quebec answered in the third inning when shortstop Kyle Crowl blasted a solo home run to dead center field, tying the game at 3-3. Fauci recovered quickly and retired the next three batters, including his second strikeout of the inning.
The Jackals regained the lead in the bottom of the third. Leftfielder Luis Encarnacion and Stuart each worked lengthy walks before a passed ball and throwing error by De Freitas allowed Encarnacion to score. Stevens later delivered a broken bat RBI single, extending the lead to 5-3. Quebec prevented further damage when De Freitas threw out Stevens attempting to steal second.
Fauci settled into rhythm during the fourth and fifth innings. In the fourth, he escaped trouble by inducing designated hitter David Mendham into an inning ending 6-4-3 double play. Fauci completed five innings, allowing three earned runs on five hits with six walks and five strikeouts.
“I was missing a couple of pitches and some stuff wasn’t going my way, so I just needed to bring out some emotion and get fired up to battle and get those two big zeroes in the fourth and fifth to keep us in the game,” Fauci said.
The Jackals added another run in the fifth inning. Stevens singled up the middle before Maryniak lined a shot off the right field wall. Gomez followed with an RBI single off the fence in right, extending the lead to 6-3.
Reliever Joe Joe Rodriguez followed Fauci with two scoreless innings, striking out one while allowing just one hit. Quebec reliever Ian Villers also delivered two scoreless innings, retiring the Jackals in order in the sixth.
Maryniak moved from shortstop to the mound in the eighth inning and allowed a leadoff double to first baseman Torin Montgomery. An errant throw on a ground ball later allowed Montgomery to score, cutting the deficit to two. During the play, Valdez collided with Gomez’s left elbow, though Gomez remained in the game after briefly going down in pain.
The Jackals answered in the bottom of the eighth. Gomez singled to left before Sosa ripped a deep double to left field, scoring Gomez all the way from first and extending the lead to 7-4.
Closer Malik Binns entered in the ninth inning looking to secure the save. For Quebec, Young singled to begin the inning before Crowl drove a deep fly ball off the top of the right field fence. Right fielder Aldanay Kolokie quickly fired the ball home, cutting down Young at the plate for the first out. Binns then struck out Castro before Montgomery lined out to Stuart to end the game.
The Jackals improved to 7-5 on the season, while the Capitales fell to 9-4.
The Jackals return to action Saturday May 23, in game two against the Quebec Capitales at Hinchliffe Stadium. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m.
