Now that the Frontier League’s all-star break is over, the Jackals begin the stretch run in search of a postseason playoff spot, and upcoming games against their Garden State rivals could play a big role in how things wind up.

     New Jersey returns from the break in seventh place in the East Division, trailing the runaway Quebec Capitales by 14 games in the standings. However, the other five teams between the Jackals and the Capitales are all bunched together and within reach if the locals can do what manager Brooks Carey has called for and put together even a modest winning streak.

     The Jackals in-state rivals are one example:

     The Sussex County Miners are currently in third place and that would qualify them for the final Division wild-card berth in the playoffs.

     And, the Jackals open play after the break on Friday night just three games behind the Miners in the loss column.

     In between them, the Miners are in a virtual tie with Tri-City, and two games behind both Trois-Rivieres and New York. It would be hard for the division race to be more bunched up than that.

     The opportunity to move up the ladder begins this weekend with a three-game series at Yogi Berra Stadium hosting the West Division’s Windy City ThunderBolts. After that, the Jackals go on their final West road trip with the 830-mile bus trip to face the defending champion Schaumburg Boomers in Illinois, followed by a second visit this year to the Ohio beach town for a three-game series with the Lake Erie Crushers.

     From then on, it’s all East Division opponents the rest of the season, including what could be six showdowns with the Miners.

     So far, the Garden State Rivalry has produced mixed results with each team winning three of their six games – all in July.

     First, in a home-and-home series, the Jackals took two of three behind unusually strong pitching, holding the Miners to eight runs on 16 hits, while adding up 19 runs on 32 hits for themselves.

     In the second three-game series held in Little Falls, the Miners took two of three. That time around, neither pitching nor defense played much of a role in the outcomes. The Miners accumulated 29 runs on 27 hits with nine errors, while the Jackals tallied 28 runs on 38 hits, but with 12 errors.

     And, speaking of hitting… The Jackals are currently No. 1 in the league with a team batting average of .301 and they’re No. 1 in hits (590) and home runs (86). They are, however, fourth-worst in the league in pitching with a team ERA of 6.26.

     The Miners are a near-opposite team, currently ranked as fourth-worst in the league in hitting team with a .263 team batting average and next-to-last in homers with 45. But, the Miners are fifth in the league with a team ERA of 4.56, and Sussex County is on a pace to set a new league record for stolen bases, currently with 154, ahead of No. 2 Windy City with 107.

     New Jersey went into the all-star break with a four-game winning streak including their third series sweep of the year when they blanked Tri-City at home.

     The next Garden State home-and-home matchup begins Friday night, Aug. 12, at Yogi. The Jackals and Miners will meet for the final time of the year in the final weekend of the year Sept. 2-4 up north at Skylands Stadium.

     Will that be a make-or-break event for one or both teams? That will depend on what they do throughout that final month, when the Miners will enjoy a more desirable schedule.

     For starter, the Miners will host the league-created road team called the Empire State Greys nine times in August. Of course, nobody would count a win in advance, but the last-place Greys are currently 3-54 and ranked last in every pitching and hitting category.

     Meanwhile, the Jackals will host the Greys six times in August, but they’ll also face six games against first-place Quebec, by far the most successful team in the league with a current mark of 42-15 and riding a 12-game winning streak. The Miners will face Quebec three times in August.

     Will any or all of this August intrigue matter? Or could this 2022 season all come down to the Garden State Rivalry deciding the final standings and the look of the Frontier League playoffs?

By Carl Barbati, former sports editor of the New Jersey Herald, Daily Record and The Daily Trentonian.