Black cloud remains over Wild Things in postseason

During the seventh inning of Game 5 in the Wild Things’ Midwest Conference finals series against Evansville on Sunday, dark clouds – the kind that have been all too familiar in Washington over the past month – filled the sky above EQT Park. Rain began falling, but not hard enough to stop play. The clouds, however, remained through the end of the game, casting an eerie glow over the ballpark.

That seemed to fit the mood of the home team and their fans – doom and gloom.

Washington’s season ended like each of their other 13 trips to the postseason have – with blank stares, grim looks and the opponents spraying champagne and beer while celebrating a series win.

Evansville ended the Wild Things’ season with a 9-6 victory in the decisive game of the best-of-5 series. The Wild Things were trying to overcome a 2-0 deficit in the series and were able to force the series to a fifth game.

Washington fell to 1-5 all-time in Game 5 situations. And this loss had many of the characteristics of their other Game 5 defeats.

In 2005 against Chillicothe, Washington fell behind 18-0 in the fourth inning.

In the 2007 finals against Windy City, the Wild Things were behind 7-0 in the third inning.

On Sunday, Washington was down 6-0 in the third inning.

Washington fought hard all season, winning 66 games and its third straight division title and 11th overall. And they played in the Frontier League’s best division.

Yes, the Wild Things have done a lot of winning in the regular season. That’s why they have played more playoff games (40) than any other team over the last decade. They just haven’t won a championship.

The Wild Things have figured out how to win the marathons. They just can’t win the sprints. Who would have thought it was easier to win 66 games during the regular season than it is to win eight in the playoffs? You would think they would win one championship just by accident, right?

Wild Things fans can surely relate to what Buffalo Bills fans have experienced.

There were plenty of standout performances and memories created this summer. First baseman Andrew Czech had an MVP season against some strong competition for the award. He led the league in multiple offensive categories and had what was the best season any Wild Things hitter ever produced.

Anthony Brocato set the league’s single-season record for home runs with 37 and is within two of tying the career record of 127. Czech has 114 career homers.

Kobe Foster won the Pitcher of the Year Award and threw the fourth no-hitter in franchise history on June 12 against New Jersey.

There was Jeff Liquori’s postseason in which he went 19-for-32 with 16 RBI in eight games, prompting Evansville manager Andy McCauley to say Sunday night, “Liquori might be the best hitter in the league.”

And there were six players who had their contracts purchased by major league organizations during the regular season, which is by far the most in franchise history.

What ultimately doomed the Wild Things in the postseason was its strength during the regular season. Washington’s pitching staff, which was held together with one spare part after another, had the lowest ERA and gave up the second-fewest walks in the league. The pitching fell apart in the postseason. In the three losses to Evansville, Washington pitchers gave up 42 hits, 35 runs, 12 walks and hit three batters. The Wild Things lost Game 1 by the football-like score of 14-13.

“You score 13 runs and it was not enough to win a ballgame,” Washington manager Tom Vaeth said. “I was thinking about that coming to the ballpark (on Sunday).

“We just didn’t do enough to get the job done, to win the series. … We had two good starts in the series and we won both games. That’s all you need to know.”

What really stings is this might have been Washington’s best chance to win that elusive championship. The Wild Things were the only division champion to survive the wild-card round of the playoffs. Four-time defending champion Quebec was knocked out. And all the Wild Things got was another round of playoff misery.

It’s not going to get any easier. The league will be expanding to 20 teams next year with the addition of two clubs from the American Association. This is not the old eight-team Frontier League. It’s much more difficult to beat 19 other teams than seven.

But next year brings one change. The Frontier League name will be gone. In its place will be the National Association of Professional Baseball.

Maybe the Wild Things’ playoff luck will be better in the NAPB.

Sports editor Chris Dugan can be reached at dugan@observer-reporter.com