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Two-run blast keys Wild Things' victory
When Jacob Dempsey walked into the batter's box for the final time Thursday night, the Wild Things were locked in a 4-4 tie against Florence in the bottom of the eighth inning. Washington had the potential go-ahead run on first base with no outs.
For baseball purists, there was only one logical move Washington manager Mark Mason could make.
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So Mason took one look at first-base coach Jon Cahill and asked, "Should we bunt?"
Cahill simply smiled. He knows that going by the book isn't the logical thing to do when you have a guy like Dempsey, who led the Frontier League in RBI last year.
Dempsey turned on the second pitch he saw from Florence reliever Jordan Towns and drove it over the right-field wall for a tiebreaking two-run homer that sparked the Wild Things to an 8-4 victory at Consol Energy Park.
"We're not bunting Jacob," Mason said. "Not with one on and the No. 5 hitter, the top RBI guy in the league last year, at the plate.
"I don't even know if Dempsey can bunt. He tries in batting practice but sometimes it's not always a pretty thing. We were going with his strength, which is hitting the ball."
It helped that the left-handed hitting Dempsey had an idea of what pitch Towns was going to throw.
"Matt Sutton told me about how (Towns) pitched him," Dempsey said. "Matt said they threw him an outside fastball on the first pitch and came inside with a changeup on the next pitch. He told me to look for it. Sure enough, that's exactly how they pitched me."
Dempsey waited, then turned on the changeup, hitting it for his ninth home run of the season. The blast triggered a four-run eighth inning for the Wild Things and enabled them to avoid being swept in the three-game series.
"I know what the bunt sign is, and I like to think that I can do it if needed - though I haven't bunted in five years," Dempsey said. "But I'm glad they had enough faith in me to let me swing."
Before the eighth inning ended, Alan Robbins doubled off the centerfield wall and scored on Michael Parker's single to give Washington a 7-4 lead. Parker came around to score after an errant pickoff throw by reliever Charles Williams and Chris Sidick's sacrifice fly.
Aaron Fuhrman (1-2) pitched 21/3 solid innings in relief of starter Craig Snipp to get the win. Nick Peterson retired both batters he faced for his sixth save.
"Those were two pretty good pitching performances from Snipp and Fuhrman," Mason said. "That was Snipp's most extensive outing and Fuhrman did a good job of bridging the gap to the end. And the offense did a nice job of giving us a cushion at the end."
Snipp, Washington's opening day starter, had been hampered by a strained groin and pitched past the fifth inning for the first time all year. He went six innings, allowing four runs (three earned) and six hits. He also struck out six.
It was a terrific outing when you factor in that Florence had scored 43 runs in the last three games against Washington.
The Freedom led 2-0 in the third inning, getting a solo home run from Tim Grogan in the second and an unearned run in the third when Sidick dropped a two-out fly ball in shallow center field.
Sidick, however, atoned for his rare fielding miscue by doubling down the left-field line in the bottom of the third and scoring on Phil Laurent's double. Seven of Washington's 11 hits went for extra bases, including two doubles by Sidick.
Florence stretched its lead to 4-1 in the fourth, but the Wild Things started their comeback in the bottom of the inning. Doubles by Dempsey, Brett Grandstrand and Sidick, along with Grant Psomas' single, made it 4-4, which is how the score stayed until Dempsey's swing in the eighth, which came after Banks had drawn a leadoff walk.
Extra bases
Florence pitcher Jonathan Miller gave up four runs in five innings. It was Miller's first start of the year after 15 relief appearances and six saves. ... Eight Washington batters had at least one hit.
