Until the bottom of the eighth inning on Tuesday night, Ottawa Titans fans had little to cheer for.
The team was playing the first home game in franchise history—a pre-season matchup against the Trois-Rivières Aigles at the Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton (RCGT) Park—but beyond baseball returning to Ottawa after two and a half long years, the game was crawling.
The bottom of the eighth inning changed that, turning a 2-2 deadlock into a 5-3 Ottawa win.
The rally started before the inning began. As Aigles reliever Alex Mackinnon warmed up in the bullpen down the right field line, multiple pitches went wild and soared into the outfield.
It was only a sign of things to come. After a walk and popout, the inning unraveled: A glorious sight for the Titans
Tyrus Greene was hit by a pitch. Clay Fisher was hit by a pitch. Jason Dicochea scored on a wild pitch. Luke Navigato walked. AJ Wright walked. Fisher scored on a wild pitch. Navigato scored on a wild pitch. Brendon Dadson walked.
When all was said and done, Mackinnon walked four batters, hit two and made three run-scoring wild pitches. In one wild inning, the game changed from 2-2 to 5-2 Titans.
“Obviously [we] had a couple gifts, but those guys had to get on base first to put them in a pressure spot,” Titans manager Bobby Brown said.
The game began poorly for Ottawa. Starting pitcher Jack Alkire issued a lead-off walk before giving up a two-run homer to Joe Campagna that soared onto the road beyond the left field fence. But Alkire settled down, going three more innings without a run allowed.
The Titans got the first run back in the second inning, when third baseman Wright hit a solo homer just over the wall in left field.
“I’m not typically a power hitter either, but I got one up in the breeze that was going out towards left and it carried it out,” Wright said. “It felt good but I didn’t think it was going to be high enough to get out.”
Ottawa’s game-tying run came in the seventh inning thanks to an RBI double from first baseman David Maberry. It set the stage for the Titans’ wild go-ahead eighth frame.
While the result ultimately didn’t matter—after all, it was just an exhibition game before the season officially starts in Joliet, Ill., on Friday—Brown said it felt good to play in front of Ottawa fans. This was the first pro baseball game in Ottawa since 2019, when the Ottawa Champions of the Can-Am league folded.
“[It’s the] first time they’ve had baseball here in a couple years and it had a little bit of a feel like opening day,” Brown said. “We didn’t know how many people were going to come out. It was a great crowd for an exhibition game … and [I] can’t wait to see the future this summer when the lights really come on.”
On Wednesday, the Titans played their fourth and final pre-season game against the Washington Wild Things in Washington, Pa. Ottawa took a 7-6 win thanks to a three-run rally in the ninth inning.
After Tuesday’s game, Brown stressed the importance of spring training on building team culture.
“It’s a short spring training, but building up a winning atmosphere is important,” Brown said. “Some people say spring training doesn’t matter, but it does. They get used to winning. [I’m] real proud of my group today.”
The Ottawa Titans will be in action again against the Joliet Slammers on Friday at 8 p.m. for the start of the Frontier League season.
