Ottawa’s professional baseball team has clawed its way back into contention for the Frontier League playoffs, having won five-consecutive games and 10 of the team’s last 11 outings.
Through the season’s first 40 games, the Titans posted an underwhelming 14-26 record, leaving them well outside playoff contention.
However, Ottawa caught fire towards the end of last month, sweeping a three-game series against the lowly New Jersey Jackals and splitting two games against the Brockton Rox before winning three straight road games against the Sussex County Miners, which included a 15-14 thriller on Sunday.
This week, the Titans hosted three games against the divisional rival Tri-City ValleyCats, who currently hold one of the Atlantic Conference’s four projected playoff spots.
Propelled by strong pitching performances, Ottawa took down the ValleyCats 6-1 on Tuesday, before shutting out the Albany-based squad 8-0 on Wednesday night.
The Titans will look to finish the sweep on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at Ottawa Stadium. Tickets are available at https://www.ottawatitans.com/.
The recent stretch leaves Ottawa third in the conference’s wild card race. Each season, the conference’s two divisional winners and top two wildcard teams qualify for the postseason.
Currently, Ottawa is two games back of the second and final wildcard spot, held by the New York Boulders.
After Thursday night’s game, the Titans will continue its homestead by welcoming the division-leading Québec Capitales, before the league breaks for the all-star game, set to be held in Tri-City next Wednesday.
Ottawa will be represented by Billy Duby, a right-handed reliever, who has been stellar in 20 appearances for the Titans this season.
Through 29 innings pitched, Duby has posted 21 strikeouts and a 1.55 earned runs average (ERA), which leads the team among pitchers to appear in more than two games.
