Wild Things on pace, in good spot
Cleaning out a cluttered notebook:
The second half of the Frontier League season starts tonight. Do you know where the Wild Things are?
If you’re one of the other seven teams in the West Division, then you can look up and find the Wild Things. They are at the top of the standings with a 38-18 record. That’s the best record in the league and the best mark Washington has had at the all-star break in their 22-season history. The previous high-water mark was 35-21 in 2022. They were 13 games above .500 twice (2004 and 2014).
Washington has won 10 of its last 11 games.
But with all the success, Washington is a mere 1½ games ahead of second-place Lake Erie. The Wild Things have nine games remaining against the Crushers, with six of those scheduled to be played in Washington, including a series that starts Tuesday morning.
With the Frontier League’s stupid playoff format, where the second- and third-place teams in each division play a one-night wild-card game, being the first-place team in the division is important. The last place you want to finish – other than out of the playoffs – is second place, from where you can be the second-best team in the 16-team league and be knocked out of the postseason after one game.
* The transfer portal can give, and it can take away from any college basketball program.
At California, K.J. McClurg, who was the Vulcans’ leading scorer last season and the PSAC West Player of the Year after transferring from New Hampshire, has transferred again, this time to Longwood for the 2024-25 season. Longwood plays in the Division I Big South Conference.
Journey Thompson, who started as a freshman on Peters Township’s PIAA Class 6A girls basketball championship team in 2019, has transferred from Arizona State to Syracuse. Thompson will have two years of eligibility remaining.
* Former Canon-McMillan standout football player Connor McMahon will be entering his senior season at the Naval Academy. McMahon has started 22 consecutive games for the Midshipmen, playing last year at left tackle.
This season, McMahon will have a new uniform number. He’ll be switching from No. 59 to 68 in memory of former Navy offensive lineman David Forney, who died unexpectedly in 2020. At the start of the 2021 season, it was determined that a senior offensive lineman would be assigned No. 68 each year to remember Forney.
McMahon is the son of Eric and Jennifer McMahon of North Strabane Township. The couple have three sons and each will play Division I football. Kent is a linebacker at St. Francis (Pa.) and Matthew, who will be a senior at Canon-McMillan, has committed to the Naval Academy.
* Avella native and former NFL player and agent Ralph Cindrich will be inducted into the Croatian American Sports Hall of Fame on Oct. 26 during ceremonies at the Marriott City Center in Pittsburgh.
Cindrich was a standout athlete at Avella High School and at Pitt, where he was an All-American in wrestling (1969) and football (1971). Cindrich was drafted by the Atlanta Falcons in 1972, and after a five-year NFL career as a linebacker, he went on to become a lawyer and sports agent. Cindrich represented several future Hall of Famers.
* The Frontier League could be growing beyond 16 teams in the near future. This week, at the league’s all-star game in Quebec City, commissioner Steve Tahsler said one of the league’s top priorities is to return professional baseball to Montreal.
There are still rumors that Charleston, W.Va., and Lexington, Ky., could switch from the Atlantic League to the Frontier, and a city in North Carolina has expressed interest in joining the league.
Sports editor Chris Dugan can be reached at dugan@observer-reporter.com