Evansville Otters advance to Frontier League Championship Series, seek third title
EVANSVILLE — The Evansville Otters needed two come-from-behind wins to secure the Frontier League Divisional Series and advance to the Championship Series.
Now, they'll look to clinch their first Frontier League title since 2016 and third overall. Up next is a trip to Canada. That means a “probably” 20-hour bus ride, McCauley said, as Evansville prepares to take on the Capitales de Québec for the championship.
But it was an eventful past week to get to this point. Game 1 of the FLDS at Bosse Field went to the bottom of the ninth inning when Kona Quiggle stepped to the plate. With a 1-0 count, trailing by a run and a runner on first, he saw a pitch he liked and sent it sky-high to right field. Ball game. Evansville beat the Gateway Grizzlies 4-3.
“Kona’s been dynamite for us all year,” Otters manager Andy McCauley said.
After falling in Game 2, Evansville then won Game 3 on Sunday because of a seven-run outburst in the fifth inning in Sauget, Illinois. The Grizzlies got the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the ninth but pitcher Jake Polancic got the save and the Otters clinched their first playoff series since winning the Frontier League title in 2016.
The Otters previously beat the Schaumburg Boomers 4-3 in a one-game Wild Card before facing Gateway.
“(It was) a really, really good series and a really good final game there,” McCauley said of the Grizzlies. “You celebrate the win. It’s something we’ve accomplished already to win the West Division and go on to play in the playoffs.”
The Otters are going for their third championship while Québec is vying for its second consecutive crown. The Capitales beat Evansville in two of the three regular-season games they played, but McCauley felt his team played well and put itself in a position to win each game.
The first two games of the best-of-five series will be in Québec on Tuesday and Wednesday while Bosse Field will host Game 3 on Friday and, if necessary, Games 4 and 5 on Saturday and Sunday. Tickets can be purchased on the Otters' website and the games will be broadcast on FloSports and the Otters’ YouTube.
“Getting to the playoffs is goal No. 1 and we make that clear in spring training,” McCauley said. “You never know what’s going to happen in the playoffs. We’ve had some really good teams, like last year’s team, lose a one-game play-in and be done. We’ve gone on, and ‘16 had a magical ride.”
Starting pitching is Evansville’s biggest strength, with the “scrappy hitters,” McCauley said, giving the Otters some offensive pop. Those will be key against a Capitales team that clinched their series against the New Jersey Jackals with a 15-run showing.
There’s been plenty of roster turnover since Evansville and Québec played in late May.
Capitales manager Patrick Scalabrini also played for McCauley “way back in the day," so there’s a mutual respect between the two.
“(We) couldn’t be happier where we are right now and heading to vie for a championship,” McCauley said.
This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Evansville Otters advance to Frontier League Championship Series
