Wild Things drop Game 1, fall in 12 innings
Katie Roupe / Observer-Reporter Wild Things pitcher Troy Marks threw 7 1/3 shutout innings Monday night against River City in Game 1 of a best-of-3 playoff series against River City.
Katie Roupe / Observer-Reporter Wild Things catcher Jim Vahalik makes a great catch for an out close to the dugout during the second inning Monday night againstRiver City.
By Chris Dugan
Sports editor
dugan@observer-reporter.com
Not that there is ever a good time to hang a slider to River City catcher Saxon Butler, but it happened Monday night under just about the worst possible circumstances for the Wild Things.
It came in the top of the 12th inning and the score tied in a playoff game.
Butler, the Frontier League’s RBI champion this season, quickly untied it by pulling the hanging pitch from Washington relief pitcher Zach LeBarron and depositing it over the right-field wall for a solo home run that gave River City a 2-1 victory over Washington in Game 1 of the semifinals at Consol Energy Park.
Game 2 in the best-of-3 series is Wednesday (8 p.m.) at River City. Scott Dunn (8-5, 3.28) will pitch for Washington against River City’s Kyle Brady (2-3, 4.97). Game 3, if necessary, will be Thursday.
“Just before Saxon Butler won the game, I talked to our hitters and told them don’t try to be a player you aren’t. Don’t try to get amped up because it’s the playoffs and try to win the game yourself,” River City manager Steve Brook said. “I said to treat this like it’s just another day on the job.”
Butler’s job all season has been to drive in runs for the Rascals – the highest-scoring team in the league – and that’s what he did in the 12th. LeBarron, who was the fifth of six Washington pitchers, hung his second pitch to Butler, who drove it off the second tier of advertising signs in right field to give River City the 2-1 advantage.
The Wild Things, who were playing their first home playoff game in seven years, still had a chance in the bottom of the 12th, when they loaded the bases with one out. But this game had the feel of so many Washington postseason games of years ago. Clutch hits against crafty pitchers were nearly impossible to produce.
“We couldn’t get a timely hit,” Washington manager Bob Bozzuto lamented. “You don’t win many games when you get one run.”
In the bottom of the 12th, the Wild Things got a one-out walk by designated hitter Maxx Garrett and consecutive singles by Andrew Heck and Ryan Kresky to load the bases against winning pitcher Trey Lambert. Washington, however, couldn’t push across the tying run. Lambert struck out pinch-hitter Jose Dore, and right-handed sidearmer Chandler Jagodzinski was brought in pitch to Danny Poma. Jagodzinski fell behind in the count 3-1 before striking out Poma swinging to end the game.
“We didn’t get a timely hit or even a fly ball,” Bozzuto said. “The things you work on all year, they come back to haunt you when you don’t do ’em.”
The game was a mix of stellar pitching, superb defense and squandered scoring opportunities.
“It was a poorly executed game,” Brook said. “Nobody executed offensively.”
The Rascals took a 1-0 lead in the top of the ninth, then saw Washington force extra innings when Carter Bell singled home Poma with two outs in the bottom of the ninth. River City then stranded two baserunners in the 10th and left the bases loaded in the 11th.
Starting pitchers Troy Marks of Washington and Tommy Mendoza of River City were terrific but neither was around to figure in the outcome.
Mendoza threw five shutout innings, allowing only two hits and a walk. He left the game because of tightness in the right shoulder. Marks was magnificent, throwing 7 1/3 shutout innings, giving up just four hits and two walks. Marks struck out four and threw 94 pitches.
“Troy Marks deserved to win that game,” Bozzuto said. “He threw a masterpiece.”
The early innings were dominated by fantastic defense.
Washington left fielder Andrew Heck made diving catch while moving in and toward the foul line to rob Butler of a hit in the first inning. In the second, Wild Things catcher Jim Vahalik reached over the railing in front of the Washington dugout and caught a popup hit by Jon Myers. Vahalik flipped over the railing but prevented himself from tumbling down head-first by using his bare hand to grab the roof of the dugout.
The Rascals’ Hector Crespo led off the seventh inning with a single to left field but was thrown out by Heck while trying to stretch the hit into a double.
River City also made several top-notch defensive plays. Poma was robbed of a hit in the third when center fielder Curran Redal made a diving grab on a sinking line drive.
“That was definitely playoff baseball,” Bozzuto said.
River City, the West Division champion and top seed in the playoffs, finally broke the scoreless tie in the top of the ninth. Left-handed hitter Brian McConkey led off with a single against lefty reliever Al Yevoli. Bozzuto then brought in Jonathan Kountis, the league’s Relief Pitcher of the Year. Crespo fouled off a sacrifice bunt before Brook changed strategy and put on the hit-and-run. The Rascals executed it perfectly as Crespo singled up the middle and McConkey chugged over to third base.
“When the pitcher thinks you’re going to put down a sacrifice bunt, he’ll often throw something that’s good too hit. That’s when we like to put on the hit-and-run,” Brook said.
Following a shallow flyout to Scott Kalamar in right field, Kountis threw a pitch that sailed outside on Redal, a lefty hitter, and it went to the backstop. McConkey raced home on thw wild pitch to give River City a 1-0 lead.
Washington, which had only one baserunner reach scoring position over the first eight innings, managed to force extra innings when down to its final out. Poma led off the ninth with a double down the left-field off River City closer Gabe Shaw. Garrett Rau bunted Poma to third base, and the Rascals then brought their infield in against Kalamar. On the first pitch of the at-bat, Kalamar hit a hard line drive that Crespo, the Rascals’ second baseman, snagged near his left ankle as Poma held at third base.
With River City on the verge of a great escape, Bell dropped a clean single into shallow center field, sending Poma home and tying the score.
River City had the best chances to score the game’s initial run. In the fifth, Redal tripled to right field with one out. Steve Carrillo, the Rascals’ No. 9 hitter, then popped up a safety squeeze bunt that Rau, the Washington first baseman, caught in foul territory. Marks ended the threat by striking out Eric Williams.
“We had plenty of opportunities with runners in scoring position with less than two outs. We couldn’t even get down a squeeze bunt,” Brook said. “This game could have gone either way.”
It was the first playoff game at Consol Energy Park since Sept. 14, 2007. … Six River City pitchers held Washington to seven hits. Heck and Kresky each had two hits. … Southern Illinois won Game 1 in the other semifinal series, defeating host Schaumburg, 9-5.