Jul 9, 2016 4 min read

The Wild Things changed their nickname – for Saturday night only – to the Cicadas. The players wore new uniforms complete with a bug-eyed logo to remember the pesky flying insects that swarmed over the area last month.

Those jerseys were auctioned off after the game with proceeds benefitting a charity.

Perhaps the Wild Things should have kept the jerseys. It seems there were a lot of hits in them.

Washington’s offense produced 14 hits – matching its season high – and pitchers Matt Fraudin and Sam Agnew-Wieland combined on a five-hit shutout as the Wild Things blanked Schaumburg 5-0 before 2,412 at Consol Energy Park.

First baseman Logan Uxa hit a two-run homer, right fielder David Popkins drove in two runs and center fielder Chris Grayson had three hits, including a triple, and scored two runs to lead the offense. Even second baseman Jamodrick McGruder, who was signed earlier in the day, got in the act with two hits and a sacrifice fly.

“We were talking about maybe we should play as the Cicadas the rest of the season,” said Uxa, who hit his third home run of the season and second of the week in the fourth inning.

“We started hitting the ball better in Joliet. Before that, we were getting guys on base but leaving them there. Now, it feels good to get guys on, move them over and get them in.”

Washington forged a 4-0 lead after five innings against Schaumburg starting pitcher Seth Webster (4-5), who was named the Atlanta Braves’ minor league right-handed starting pitcher of the year last season but was released during spring training.

Grayson, who joined the team Tuesday in Joliet, hit a two-out triple in the first inning and scored on the first of Popkins’ three singles. Uxa made it 3-0 with his home run that just cleared the outfield wall down the right-field line.

That was enough offense for Fraudin (3-4) and Agnew-Wieland, even if the former struggled with his control early in the game.

Fraudin had an outing that fit with the promotional night. It has probably been 17 years since the right-hander from Upper St. Clair has walked four of the opponent’s 12 batters like he did against the Boomers. When Fraudin did throw the baseball over home plate, Schaumburg was swatting and hitting almost nothing. The Boomers were held to two hits against Fraudin through six innings, though he finished with five walks.

“He weathered his walks,” Washington manager Gregg Langbehn said. “He had some issues early with feel and his release point. But something I like about our starting staff is when they don’t have their best stuff they find a way to get through it.”

Agnew-Wieland pitched the final three innings and earned a nine-out save, his first of the season.

Schaumburg had only one runner reach third base, that being Jordan Dean with two outs in the eighth.

McGruder hit a sacrifice fly that scored Austin Wobrock to make the score 4-0 in the fifth inning. Grayson singled in the seventh, stole second base and scored on a Popkins hit or the game’s final run.

Overall, the night had a much better feel for the home team than Friday, when the Wild Things lost a three-run lead and the game in the final three innings.

“That was a good team win,” Langbehn said, “especially after (Friday) night. We didn’t allow them to get any momentum going against us.”

The game marked the halfway point in the Wild Things’ 96-game season. They have a 26-22 record. … Popkins was chosen as one of the East Division’s five participants for the Home Run Derby that will be held Tuesday during Frontier League All-Star Game festivities in Florence, Ky. The game will be played Wednesday. Schaumburg’s Paul Kronenfeld also will participate for the East. … It was only the second time in the last 12 meetings that a Wild Things-Boomers game played in Washington was decided by more than two runs. Seven of those 12 have been one-run games.