Jackals Ride Strong Third Inning in Win Over Miners

The Miners opened the scoring in the first inning off of a Mekhi Backstrom two-RBI double that plated Hunter D’Amato and Gabriel Maciel.

Trailing 2-0, the Jackals scored four runs in the fourth inning starting when Luis Acevedo singled in Bryson Parks. Two batters later, Jake DeLeo hit his first home run as a Jackal, also driving in Acevedo and Ryan Ford to give New Jersey a 4-2 lead.

The Miners sliced the gap in half with a Maciel sacrifice fly in the seventh, but the Jackals replied in the ninth with a sacrifice fly of their own off of the bat of DeLeo, growing the lead to 5-3. Anthony Leak (S, 4) sent Sussex County down in sequence in the ninth to close the game.

Jalon Long (W, 3-3) earned the win after throwing six innings, allowing two runs, one earned with two strikeouts. He was relieved by Logan Waltz who threw 0.1 innings and allowed one run. Frankie Guliano followed by getting the final two outs of the seventh inning, allowing no runs and Dusty Baird threw a perfect eighth inning. Billy Parsons (L, 5-1) took the loss, tossing six innings and allowing four runs, one earned with three strikeouts.

The Jackals conclude their series in Sussex County tomorrow night. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. ET.