Jul 26, 2016 4 min read

A walk-off win on a hit batsman is not like a small fish. You don’t throw it back.

The Wild Things, who desperately needed to hit the reset button on the second half of the season, were down to their final out Tuesday night when they put together a stunning comeback that might have rebooted the season.

Trailing the Normal CornBelters by one run in the bottom of the ninth inning, and down to their final out, the Wild Things tied the game on consecutive clutch doubles by third baseman Ricky Rodriguez and right fielder David Popkins.

Three batters later, second baseman Jamodrick McGruder was hit in his size 10 shoe by a pitch from Normal closer Race Parmenter to force him Popkins with the winning run in Washington’s stunning 4-3 victory at Consol Energy Park.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a walk-off win on a hit batsman,” Washington manager Gregg Langbehn said. “I’ve seen one on a balk, but not a hit batsman.”

The win was made even more unlikely because after taking a 2-0 lead in the fourth inning on a long solo homer by Popkins, Washington’s offense was put into Operation Shutdown by Normal pitchers Mike Elwood, Brennan Smith and Parmenter (3-2). Normal pitchers retired 16 consecutive Washington batters until Rodriguez kickstarted the comeback when he doubled off the wall in right field.

Popkins then laced the first pitch he saw from Parmenter into the gap and to the wall in right centerfield as Rodriguez scored to make it 3-3.

“You hope you get as many at-bats of those kind, with the game on the line, as you can in your career and that you come through for your teammates,” Popkins said.

Lefty swinging first baseman Logan Uxa was then intentionally walked and right-handed hitting catcher Kyle Pollock drew a walk to load the bases. McGruder, who had been hitting in the leadoff spot until last weekend and was moved down to No. 7 in the order, when then hit in the foot with a 1-1 pitch that sent home Popkins.

The Wild Things charged the field but had to wait for McGruder to hobble down to first base before they could begin the celebration of the walk-off win.

For Washington, which was 2-7 since the all-star break and was coming off a 12-10 loss Sunday at Southern Illinois – a game they led 10-1 in the fifth inning – a win of any variety was desperately needed.

“It was, big time,” Popkins said firmly. “This was one of the most important games of the season. A loss like we had Sunday can tear down teams, but that was us tonight, we just keep coming back.”

Langbehn agreed about the game’s importance.

“We deserve one of these. We’ve had some tough losses already in the second half, and this would have been a somber clubhouse had we not pulled it out,” he admitted.

Washington forged a 2-0 lead. Chris Grayson singled home Andrew Heck in the third inning and Popkins hit his 10th homer of the season, over the batter’s eye in center field, in the fourth.

Normal closed to within 2-1 in the fifth and ended Washington starter Matt Fraudin’s string of consecutive scoreless innings at 20 when Brandon Rogers scored on Justin Fletcher’s sacrifice fly.

The CornBelters tied it 2-2 in the eighth, taking advantage of a strikeout-wild pitch by reliever Kolin Stanley that allowed Fletcher to reach base. Fletcher stole second base and scored on a single by Santiago Chirino. Another CornBelters sac fly, this one by Roberts in the eighth, gave Normal a 3-2 lead.

Prior to the game, Washington signed middle infielder Ryne Willard, a rookie out of North Carolina State. Willard, from Smithsburg, Md., batted .287 as a junior in 2015 but plated in only 41 at-bats this spring and batted .268. … Washington reliever Zac Grotz (1-2) was the winning pitcher, throwing a scoreless ninth inning. … Normal left fielder and cleanup hitter Dillon Haupt was ejected by home-plate umpire Mike Shields after arguing a called third strike that ended the top of the first inning. … The loss ended Normal’s four-game winning streak.