Grills, Wright lead Titans to win

Shortstop Taylor Wright (North Vancouver, B.C.) had three hits for the Ottawa Titans on Thursday to help lead them to an 8-3 win over the Florence Y’alls. Photo: Ottawa Titans

August 14, 2025

Official Ottawa Titans News Release

Ottawa, Ont. - The Ottawa Titans completed their third series sweep of the season, defeating the Florence Y'alls by an 8-3 final on Thursday night - keeping tabs on the final playoff spot in the Atlantic Conference.

It didn't start as planned, as Evan Grills (Whitby, Ont.) saw the visitors get on the board first for the first time in the series with Hank Zeisler hammering his 19th homer of the year to right. The two-out solo shot in the opening frame put the Y'alls in front early, 1-0.

Facing former teammate Zac Westcott, the Titans answered with a pair in the bottom of the first. With AJ Wright at first with a one-out single, Jake Sanford (Cole Harbour, N.S.) crushed an RBI double to centre to tie the score. Two batters later, Taylor Wright (North Vancouver, B.C.) lined an RBI single to left, scoring Sanford to make it 2-1.

Both veteran starters would settle in, with Grills taking centre stage in his ninth start of the year. The lefty faced four more than the minimum the rest of the way, giving the Titans five solid innings. Grills allowed just the one run on four hits, walking two, and striking out a season-high 11 batters to leave in line for the win.

Needing insurance, the Titans scratched across a run in the third, as a Taylor Wright double and Victor Cerny (Winnipeg, Man.) single stood at first and third with one out - as Justin Fogel lifted a sacrifice fly to left to put the home side up 3-1.

In the fifth, Tyler Martin blasted his first pro homer out to right to make it 4-1.

Westcott gave the Y'alls five innings, allowing four runs on six hits, striking out five.

After a run in the bottom of the seventh on a bases-loaded walk made it 5-1, Mac Lardner allowed a pair in the top of the eighth, as the lead shrank to 5-3.

Sending nine to the plate in the last of the eighth, the Titans stretched the lead enough to complete the sweep. Fogel knocked in his second of the game with a single, while bases-loaded walks to Kaiden Cardoso (Abbotsford, B.C.) and AJ Wright helped plate two more to make it 8-3.

Brandon Marklund (North Vancouver, B.C.) saw three reach with one out in the top of the ninth - as the Titans turned to all-star Billy Duby, who managed to get the final two outs to end the threat.

Taylor Wright went 3-for-4 with a double, an RBI, and stole two bases in the win. The Canadian now has four consecutive games of two-plus hits and went 7-for-11 with a pair of doubles in the mid-week set. Martin posted a multi-hit night, while AJ Wright brought in two with two walks, and Cardoso drew a pair of free passes.

The Titans now hit the road to start a seven-game road trip with the first of a crucial three-game series against the New York Boulders on Friday night at 7:00 p.m. at Clover Stadium in Pomona, New York