Miners eliminated from playoffs

The Sussex County Miners were eliminated from the playoffs Friday, Sept. 5 when they lost to the Tri-City ValleyCats, 4-3, at Skylands Stadium in Augusta.

The ValleyCats also won the first game of the the best-of-three wild-card series, 5-1, there Wednesday, Sept. 3.

The Miners won the Atlantic Conference East Division to qualify for the playoffs. It is the minor league baseball team’s first division title while playing in the Frontier League.

The Miners also took part in the playoffs in 2023, when they qualified for the wild-card game with a 55-40 record. They lost to the New Jersey Jackals.

The team’s record was 33-62 last year.

Winners of the wild-card round will play in the best-of-five conference final series from Sept. 9 through Sept. 12.

Those winners will play in the best-of-five championship series from Sept. 16 through Sept. 21.

The Miners finished the regular season Sunday, Aug. 31 with a record of 53-43, one game ahead of the New York Boulders (52-43).

The Quebec Capitales won the Atlantic Conference North Division - and led the Frontier League as a whole - with a 67-29 record. They were followed by the Tri-City ValleyCats (62-34).

Also in the playoffs are the Capitales, Boulders, Washington Wild Things (54-42) and Lake Erie Crushers (52-42) of the Midwest Conference’s Central Division, and Schaumburg Boomers (58-38) and Gateway Grizzlies (56-40) of the Midwest Conference’s West Division.

On Wednesday, the Capitales defeated the Boulders, 11-4; the Grizzlies edged the Wild Things, 6-5; and the Boomers topped the Crushers, 9-3.