After going 7-3 during their 10-game road trip, their longest road trip of the season, the New Jersey Jackals returned home to Yogi Berra Stadium to take on the Tri-City ValleyCats in a three-game series. It's the first time the Jackals have hosted the ValleyCats in their franchise's history as both teams are now apart of the Frontier League. New Jersey ended up taking two of three from Tri-City.
Jackals Fall Behind Late
The first game on Tuesday, June 15 started out as a pitchers duel. Jackals starter John Hayes was impressive early on, as he limited the ValleyCats to just one run and two hits. The one run came in the top of the third when Brandt Broussard scored on a groundout. The Jackals got a run of their own in the bottom of the second when Dalton Combs scored on a groundout himself. The game was tied 1-1 heading into the top of the sixth.
This inning was where Hayes quickly got into trouble. He walked two batters and gave up a single to Juan Silverio to give Tri-City the bases loaded with no outs. Manager Brooks Carey proceeded to go to his bullpen and brought in Matt Vogel. The ValleyCats proceeded to plate five runs off Vogel in the top of the sixth inning. Brandt Broussard had the big hit, a hard-hit fly ball into the right-center field gap for a two-run double. It was all ValleyCats from that point on, as they went on to tack on six more runs, and they went to win the game 12-4.
Reece Karalus Returns in Win
New Jersey's offense got going quickly in the second game on Wednesday, June 16, as Dalton Combs went opposite field for a two-run single in the bottom of the first. After struggling in his previous start against Washington, starting pitcher Angelo Biaz had a bounce back outing in this one. Biaz gave New Jersey five innings allowing just two runs, one earned. He exited the game in the top of the sixth when Carey brought in a familiar face from the bullpen. Reece Karalus, key member of the Jackals 2019 championship team, took the mound for the first time at Yogi Berra Stadium since Sept. 2019. Karalus missed all of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and missed the first 12 games of the 2021 season due to attending Santa Clara University.
"It was nerve-wracking at first cause it's been a year and a half since I've been on a game mound facing actual hitters," said Reece Karalus on his return to baseball. "I'm getting back into the groove and everything and I'm feeling good now."
Karalus's return was exactly as advertised to the crowd at Yogi Berra Stadium. He gave the Jackals two hitless innings striking out four. The Jackals bats remained hot throughout the game, taking on five more runs. Chris Carpio had a big day at the plate, going 3-for-3 at the plate with two RBIs. Riley Mihalik also had a big hit, a solo home run in the bottom of the sixth, Mihalik's second of the year. New Jersey would go on to take the 7-3 victory.
Jackals Pull Out Victory in Wild Game
The rubber game of the series on Thursday, June 17, would turn out to be one of the craziest and most exciting games of baseball you will ever see. It was a pitcher's duel throughout as Jackals starter Jared Milch pitched an absolute gem, going seven shutout innings while striking out eight. ValleyCats starter Austin Cline was impressive as well, pitching six shutout innings while striking out five. New Jersey's biggest chance to score off Cline came in the bottom of the fourth when they had the bases loaded. Riley Mihalik struck out on a pitch that looked outside. Manager Brooks Carey came out to argue and ended up getting tossed. It would be the first of four total ejections throughout the game.
Mihalik would come to bat again in the bottom of the seventh and this time, he would get New Jersey on the board with a solo home run, his second homer off the series. However, the ValleyCats would take the lead bat in the top of the eighth when Oscar Campos got a single off Dylan Brammer to score two runs to put Tri-City up 2-1. Despite this, Riley Mihalik would give the Jackals the lead back in the bottom of the eighth with a two-run triple. Mihalik finished the series going 3-for-10 with two homers and four RBIs. Brammer went back out to the mound in the top of the ninth to retire the ValleyCats 1-2-3 and lock down the 3-2 victory.
"Yeah it's kinda surreal going out there in the eighth and trying to shut it down when a couple of guys are on base," said Dylan Brammer. "That's my job and I've gotta do a better of shutting it down and not allowing that score. But Jared (Jackals bench coach) was saying 'Hey, keep with me. If we take the lead, you're gonna go back in,'. So that settled me down. With a rally like that, I knew I had to get back on the mound and just shut it down for the guys."
The New Jersey Jackals currently stand with a record of 12-7, currently second place in the Northeast Division and 1.5 games back of the first-place Sussex County Miners. New Jersey will head back on the road for the first of three against the New York Boulders Friday, June 18 at 7 p.m. before returning home to Yogi Berra Stadium to face the Boulders on Tuesday, June 22.
