Late-game heroics lift Things over Traverse City

The Wild Things played double or nothing for most of Friday night.
And when they fell behind Traverse City in the late innings, the Wild Things were helped by a couple of walks and a hit batsman, and the good fortune of having their hottest hitter at the plate at the right time.
Center fielder Rashad Brown hit three doubles, including a tiebreaking two-run grounder through a drawn-in infield in the bottom of the seventh inning as Washington rallied for a 7-4 victory before the season’s first sellout crowd at Wild Things Park.
The Wild Things had seven hits, five doubles, as they registered their seventh come-from-behind win in 19 games. They also won Thursday night at Joliet when Brown’s ninth-inning double drove in the decisive run in a 2-1 victory.
Last year, Washington won only five games when they trailed after six innings. This season, they already have three.
“I think we’re a better team overall,” Wild Things manager Gregg Langbehn said. “These guys are pretty confident in their ability to fight back.”
Early in the game, it seemed unlikely that Washington would need any late-game heroics. The Wild Things scored five pitches into the bottom of the first inning on consecutive doubles by Brown, the speedy leadoff hitter, and Alexander Fernandez and led 3-1 after three innings.
The Wild Things’ offense was then put in shutdown mode by Traverse City starting pitcher Nate Abel, who retired 11 in a row until walking designated hitter Stefan Sabol with one out in the seventh. The Beach Bums had overcome a slow start and forged a 4-3 lead at that point.
“I was a little concerned tonight because we had such a good start then hit that wall,” Langbehn said. “We didn’t adjust well from at-bat to at-bat.”
After walking Sabol, Abel was replaced by Jake Ezell (1-1), who plunked Kyle Pollock with a pitch. Trevin Sonnier then dropped a double down the right-field line that scored Sabol with the tying run and put Pollock on third base.
“What I liked is we capitalized on a walk and hit bastman,” Langbehn said. “Sonnier then hit the one down the right-field line and the way Brownie is swinging the bat, we had the right guy at the plate in the right spot.”
With the Beach Bums’ infield drawn in, Brown grounded a hit up the middle, just to the right of the second baseman, and legged out a two-run double that gave the Wild Things a 6-4 lead. It was Brown’s fourth double in his last five at-bats as he boosted his batting average to .313.
“With the infield in, there are a lot of hits up the middle,” Brown said. “I wanted to keep the ball to the right of the second baseman.”
Washington tacked on an insurance run in the eighth inning as first baseman Kane Sweeney, who drove in two of the Wild Things’ first three runs, walked and scored on an RBI groundout by Kenny Peoples-Walls.
Jordan Schwartz (1-2) got the win with 3 2/3 solid innings of relief. He gave up a solo homer to Steven Patterson that gave Traverse City a 4-3 lead in the seventh. It was Patterson’s league-leading sixth home run.
Schwartz allowed only two hits in his first relief outing of the season after beginning it in the rotation.
“What I liked is he didn’t melt or collapse after giving up the home run,” Langbehn said. “He stayed focused and did a nice job.”
Zach Strecker pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning for his fourth save.
Prior to the game, Washington released left-handed pitcher Hunter Williams. In three starts, Williams had an 0-1 record and 7.30 ERA. He walked 13 batters in 12 1/3 innings. The 21-year-old Williams, who played the last two years at the University of North Carolina, was rated last month by Baseball America as the No. 187 eligible player for Major League Baseball’s First-Year Player Draft that begins June 12. … Washington pitcher Brian O’Keefe made his first start of the year and allowed five hits and three runs over 4 1/3 innings. … Traverse City shortstop Will Kengor, who played his college ball at Slippery Rock, drove in two runs.