Jun 30, 2016 5 min read

Corey Kimes had reached a career crossroads, so he spent the last two years away from baseball, finishing his degree in communications from the University of Illinois and wondering if he would ever resume playing professional ball.

After taking time off, and working as a substitute teacher, Kimes is back playing baseball, this time for the Gateway Grizzlies. Against the Wild Things Thursday night, Kimes looked much like the pitcher who was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 18th round in 2011 instead of the guy who had a 6.37 ERA with the Joliet Slammers in 2013, before starting his two-year hiatus.

Kimes, a lefty, threw strikes, worked quickly and stayed ahead in the count. Most of all, he kept the ball down in the strike zone.

It added up to Kimes’ best outing of the season as he threw eight shutout innings in Gateway’s 2-1 victory at Consol Energy Park.

“There were a lot of times when I felt like I’d never play again,” said Kimes, who improved his record to 4-2. “Fortunately, I have some good friends and family who told me not to think that way and keep trying.”

While Kimes took two years off from baseball before kickstarting his career, Washington’s hitters, have looked like they’ve taken off the first half of the Frontier League season. The Wild Things are the lowest-scoring team in the league and have a measly .226 team batting average, which also is the lowest output in the league.

In the series finale against the Grizzlies, Washington hitters mustered only five hits one night after being held to one single in the second game of a doubleheader. For most of this night, the Wild Things seemed bent on setting a record for hitting into double plays. Gateway turned a league-high five double plays, none more important than one in the ninth inning after the Wild Things had runners on first and third with no outs.

“There is a whole slew of things wrong,” said Washington manager Gregg Langbehn, assessing his team’s hitting woes.”

The win moved Gateway (21-21) to the .500 mark for the first time since June 2. The Wild Things, meanwhile, fell to 21-20 and the primary reason they are above .500 is their pitching, which has the second-lowest ERA in the league. Washington is 3 1/2 games behind first-place Joliet in the East Division.

“The important thing is we’re right in the middle of the playoff race despite our lack of offensive production,” Langbehn said. “We’re pitching. And for the most part, our defense has been solid.

“But there needs to be more focus and paying attention to details, from a hitting standpoint. It’s not understanding the game. Guys are trying to hit their way out of slumps, that they’re so impatient. It has to change, or it will change.”

Washington trailed 2-0 in the bottom of the ninth when Gateway replaced Kimes with reliever Kevin Jefferis, who immediately got himself into a jam by giving up consecutive singles to Jamal Austin and Ricky Rodriguez to put runners on the corners. Jefferis then fell behind in the count at 3-0 to second baseman Bryan Haar, the Wild Things’ leader in home runs. Haar had the green light on 3-0 and bounced into the fifth double play of the night as Austin scored to make it a one-run game.

Jefferis then struck out David Popkins to secure his third save and a series win for Gateway.

“The good thing is nobody in our division has taken off,” Langbehn said. “Are we panicking? No. Are we happy? Definitely not. The bottom line is we can pitch. We have our faults like everyone else.”

Gateway briefly took a 1-0 lead in the third inning, then had the run taken off the scoreboard.

Third baseman Josh Bunselmeyer hit what appeared to be a home run to left centerfield, just to the left of the scoreboard. Home plate umpire Robert Howard, who has fly ball coverage in the two-man umpiring crew used by the Frontier League, originally signaled a home run. Langbehn argued that the ball did not go over the wall on a fly, so Howard conferred with base umpire Mike Martin. They decided that the ball bounced over the wall and Bunselmeyer was sent back to second base.

Three batters later, Bunselmeyer scored on Seth Heck’s two-out single.

The Grizzlies made it 2-0 in the an inning later when cleanup hitter Brandon Thomas led off with a double to right centerfield, moved to third base on a flyout and scored when Blake Brown singled through the left side of the infield.

Washington starter Matt Fraudin (2-4) gave up 10 hits in seven innings but allowed only the two runs. He was helped by a double play in the first inning and Austin, the center fielder, throwing out Bunselmeyer at home plate in the seventh. Bunselmeyer was trying to score from second base on a single by Cody Livesay.