jtuscano@observer-reporter.com

Sam Mann had to feel odd about this. He was back in Washington Sunday night, wearing the red and black colors that he was so used to in his college career.

But the name across the front of the baseball uniform was different: Kings instead of Presidents.

Mann, who was in Jeff Mountain's first recruiting class at Washington & Jefferson College, was pitching at Consol Energy Park, about 50 yards from Ross Memorial Park, where he enjoyed some of his most successful seasons with W&J.

Through three innings against the Washington Wild Things, Mann was perfect, nine up and nine down. That would have been some sort of homecoming performance, even if it did irritate the sellout crowd of 3,212.

But Mann was touched up for three runs on two hits in the fourth inning and surrendered one more in the sixth before turning it over to the Kalamazoo bullpen. Things did not go well for Kalamazoo from that point as the Wild Things scored five times over the final two innings to turn a 4-4 tie into a 9-5 victory.

"I'd probably give myself a B or a B-plus," said Mann, who gave up four runs in 52/3 innings, walked one, hit a batter and struck out six. Those numbers were nearly identical to those of Washington starter Tom Cochran. Neither figured into the decision.

"I made some good pitches. I didn't pitch bad but I could have pitched better."

Mann gave up three runs in the fourth, walking Chris Sidick and hitting Jarod Rine with a pitch.

"He may have lost his release point in the fourth," said Kalamazoo manager Fran Riordan. "He's the type of pitcher who can't walk a guy or hit a batter. His whole game is putting the ball in play."

Sidick scored on a double by Nathan Messner, one of his three hits and two RBI, and Rine made it home on a ground out by Matt Sutton. Messner later scored on a single by Mario Garza.

"Putting the 1-2 hitters on base is not a recipe for success for me," Mann said. "It's tough to give them free baserunners."

Mann, who set nearly every pitching record at W&J and was named PAC Player of the Year as a senior, was on the Wild Things' radar. But Kalamazoo was able to offer a contract first.

"I talked to him when he was at W&J. I told him to hold tight and if a spot opened, we would sign him," said Washington manager John Massarelli. "We were interested in him. A spot opened up but he signed before that. He's done well over there."

Mann was a political science major at W&J and has been accepted to law school at William & Mary. If his professional career flourishes, he can defer enrollment for a year.

"It's always been my dream to play pro baseball," said Mann. "In two or three years, I can re-evaluate it. Law school will always be there."

The bottom third of the Wild Things' lineup - Rene Quintana, Eric Earnhart and Kyle Padgett - provided the punch that produced four runs in the bottom of the seventh against two Kalamazoo relievers. The trio went a combined 7-for-12 with four runs and two RBI. Quintana cracked his third home run of the season in the eighth for Washington's final run.

"I've been struggling at the plate," said Padgett, who entered the game hitting .212. "Anything that finds a hole is good for me. I've been taking a lot of batting practice. You have to stick with the same approach and rely on the success you have had in the past."

After failing to bunt Quintana over after an inning-opening single, Earnhart had a key double. Quintana scored on Padgett's single and Earnhart scored on a double by Sidick. Padgett came home on a sacrifice fly by Rine and Messner singled in Sidick to make it 8-4.

"I'm starting to come around a little bit," said Earnhart. "I didn't get my bunts down so I did that (doubled) to redeem myself. I hit a curve ball."

Notes

One day after giving up seven hits and three runs in three innings during a 6-5 loss to Kalamazoo, starter Kevin Foeman was released by the Wild Things. Foeman had an 0-2 record and 8.79 ERA in four starts. He gave up 15 runs in 14 innings. Washington replaced Foeman by signing left-handed reliever Matt Ogrodnik, a graduate of Penn State. "The reason (Foeman) struggled was that he had only 50 percent first-pitch strikes," Massarelli said. "You have to be at 75 percent first-pitch strikes to be effective." The 6-3, 210-pound Ogrodnik was 4-3 with a 2.30 ERA for PSU last season. He was signed by the Cincinnati Reds, then released. ... The Wild Things finish the homestand tonight with the third game of this series.

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