Jun 8, 2013 4 min read

Under any name, the ballpark where the Washington Wild Things play their home games seems to be a special place for Jeff Isom.

The first manager of the Wild Things, Isom has been on the winning end of so many games at what was then called Falconi Field.

Isom, who now manages the Lake Erie Crushers, found Consol Energy Park just as welcoming as it was when named Falconi Field.

The Crushers rallied from an early 2-0 deficit and rode a pair of two-run home runs by first baseman Russell Moldenhauer to a 6-5 victory over the Wild Things in front of 2,311 fans Friday night.

“There is still some magic in this park for me,” Isom said as fireworks exploded outside the Crushers’ clubhouse door.

The game had a few unusual plays, including a reversal of a call that cost the Crushers a run, and a bizarre two-out strikeout that ended up with a tag at second base for the final out of the eighth inning.

“We played pretty well,” said Washington manager Bart Zeller. “Sometimes, you have to tip your cap to the other team.”

Moldenhauer punctuated a rocky, 21-pitch first inning by Washington starter Shawn Blackwell when he hit an opposite-field two-run home run over the left-field fence. He would hit a nearly identical two-run homer in the top of the seventh that broke a 4-4 tie.

“The last time I hit two home runs in a game was in the College World Series 2009 championship series against LSU,” said Moldenhauer, who played for Texas. “It was a similar day, 3-for-3, but they were both solo shots.”

Moldenhauer went 3-for-3 with three runs scored and drove in four of Lake Erie’s six runs.

They would need all of them.

Washington retook the lead, 3-2, in the bottom of the second when C.J. Beatty hit a two-run blast to right field after a Stewart Ijames RBI-double. It went to 4-2 in the fourth inning, when Jim Vahalik drove in Ijames with a sacrifice fly to center field.

But Washington would manage just two hits and one run over the final four innings.

Lake Erie tied the score in the sixth when Moldenhauer came home on a groundout and Emmanuel Quiles drove in Daniel Bowman with his first triple of the season.

The Crushers appeared to take a 5-4 lead when Max Casper lined a shot to left field that Rogelio Noris dove for and appeared to trap. Quiles crossed the plate and Casper rushed into second base.

Zeller came out of the dugout to argue that Noris caught the ball and asked base umpire Mark Schmidt to check with home plate umpire Mike Shields. The two conferred then ruled Noris had caught the ball for the third out.

“I knew because I saw how my infielders reacted,” Zeller said. “I think Jeff knew it was a catch.”

He did.

“They got it right,” Isom said. “Anytime you have a two-man crew, the bottom line is to get it right. I would have like to have had that run.”

Moldenhauer calmed some of Isom’s nerves when his two-run home run made it 6-4 in the top of the seventh. Washington made it 6-5 with a two-out rally in the bottom of the inning. Darian Sandford singled and stole second, and A.J. Nunziato brought him home with a double. But Jordan Wellander relieved starter Matt Smith and struck out Jovan Rosa to end the inning.

The Wild Things put a man on base in the eighth, too, when Wellander walked Noris with one out. But a strange set of events ended the threat. Wellander struck out Ijames for the second out, then struck out Nick Akins for what appeared to be the third out. But Quiles, the Crushers’ catcher, dropped the third strike, and Akins took off for first base. Instead of throwing to first, Quiles threw to second base, where Casper tagged out Noris.

“That’s not the way you want to do that,” said Isom. “I’m not sure what (Quiles) was thinking. … We seemed to reinvent the game there. Winning the game made it a little easier to swallow.”