TROY, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- Two of the most glorious words in sports: "playoff baseball." For the first time since 2018, and for the first time since moving to the Frontier League, the Tri-City ValleyCats are postseason-bound. And better yet - their postseason journey begins right here in the Capital Region.
The 'Cats welcome in the Ottawa Titans Tuesday night for the East Division Wild Card game. The team has struggled with Ottawa of late, dropping five of the last six meetings, which includes a series loss at Joseph L. Bruno Stadium in Tri-City's final homestand of the regular season.
But when it comes down to a one-game playoff matchup, just throw those stats out of the window.
"Anytime you start the postseason, it all starts fresh," said ValleyCats manager Greg Tagert. "They're [Ottawa] a good club. They won over 50 games for a reason. They've played us extremely tough. The two [games] against them two weekends ago [were] as hard-fought games as you could imagine. We're facing their best [pitcher], Tyler Jandron. Two years ago, he was the pitcher of the year in this league. He's probably the toughest customer you can face right now in the league. It'll be a great challenge for us."
It's been an impressive journey for the 'Cats just to get to this moment. They had a losing record by the end of June at 22-23, but turned things around, and went 31-18 to close out the regular season, and secure the No. 2 spot in the East.
"I think we ended up playing 14, or 15 extra-inning games this year, so we were in a lot of ball games," said Tagert. "We just had to figure out how to win. I thought as long as we could stay the course with what we had in that first half, eventually, you think some of those games are gonna go our way, and they did."
This past week alone was an emotional one for the team - clinching a playoff spot Friday in Sussex County. Two days later - on the final day of the regular season - the 'Cats locked down home field.
Tri-City posted winning records in its first three seasons in the Frontier League, but was just unable to get over the postseason hump. Tagert is pleased to have been able to help the organization get there.
"This club's been very good since their Frontier League inception. You come up a little short sometimes; it leaves ya hungry. And you play almost out of desperation. I think we've done that a little bit, [but] in a good way. You could tell the sense of maybe relief, or maybe there's just a big exhale of the guys who came so close last year. And to get the home game was just a little icing on the cake [Sunday].
Tagert named Wes Albert the starting pitcher for Tuesday. But Delmar native Arlo Marynczak will likely tag-team with Albert out of the bullpen. Marynczak, a Bethlehem Central grad, was named the Frontier League Pitcher of the Week Monday after tossing seven scoreless innings in a shutout win against New Jersey last Thursday. He struck out 12 batters in that game.
First pitch from "The Joe" Tuesday is set for 6:30 p.m.
