close

Things’ struggles against West Division rivals continue

5 min read
1 / 5

Alex Fernandez, right, is congratulated by Wild Things teammates Bralin Jackson after hitting a home run Wednesday night against the Rascals at Wild Things Park.

2 / 5

Washington‘s Alex Fernandez cannot elude the tag of River City’s Johnny Morales during the first game of a doubleheader Wednesday night at Wild Things Park.

3 / 5

Washington’s Bralin Jackson swings at a pitch Wednesday night during a game against the River City Rascals at Wild Things Park.

4 / 5

Wild Things pitcher Trevor Foss delivers Wednesday night against the Rascals at Wild Things Park.

5 / 5

Washington’s Rashad Brown attempts to slide into second base ahead of the tag of River City’s Jason Merjano Wednesday night at Wild Things Park.

Kane Sweeney, the Wild Things’ lefty-hitting first baseman, had to wait a week and an entire doubleheader Wednesday night to finally against another at-bat against River City relief pitcher Lucas Laster.

Sweeney learned from his first experience against the sidearming Laster and sent the Wild Things home with a victory.

Sweeney drilled a run-scoring single to right centerfield with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning that scored Rashad Brown from third base and gave Washington a 4-3 victory in the nightcap of the twinbill.

River City won the opening game, 4-3.

Sweeney stepped to the plate with the scored tied and River City manager Steve Brook played the percentages and called upon Laster to go with a lefty on lefty matchup. Though Sweeney entered the night with a team-best .366 batting average, that number dipped to only .182 against left-handed pitchers.

“When I saw (Laster) warming up, I had a feeling it was to pitch to me,” Sweeney said. “When there were two outs, I didn’t know if they would leave the pitcher in the game or bring him in to face me. I wanted another at-bat against him.”

That’s because Laster got the best of Sweeney last week when the teams played a series in O’Fallon, Mo.

“You don’t see many left-handers who throw from that low of an arm slot,” Sweeney said. “I’ve seen may three or four in my life. The first time I faced him, I rolled over one and grounded out to the first baseman. I’ve been waiting for another shot against him.”

Sweeney did not disappoint this time as his hit capped a two-run seventh inning. Washington erased a 3-2 deficit and posted their 10th come-from-behind win.

“I can be exhausting watching all those comebacks,” Washington manager Gregg Langbehn said.

It also was frustrating for much of the night. Washington squandered a sixth-inning lead in losing the opener and appeared to be well on its way to repeating that performance in the second game. River City took leads of 2-1 in the sixth and 3-2 in the seventh.

Washington, however, won by scoring two runs in the bottom of the seventh, although Sweeney’s single was the only ball the Wild Things put in play during the inning.

River City reliever Jason Zgardowski (1-1) walked the bases loaded but also struck out two batters. A passed ball on a pitch up out of the strike zone allowed Kenny Peoples-Walls to race home with the tying run.

“We came back and won the game, though we were spinning our wheels,” Langbehn said. “I hope this game gives us some traction and we can start to get some momentum.”

Reliever Zach Strecker (5-1) was the winning pitcher. Starter Brian O’Keefe took a shutout into the sixth.

The Rascals finally figured out how to score a run in Washington and was able to win the opener.

Washington carried a 1-0 lead into the sixth inning. Second baseman Alex Fernandez hit a solo home run off River City starter Dan Ludwig (2-0) only two batters into the bottom of the first inning.

The game remained 1-0 as Washington starter Trevor Foss (3-3) took a shutout into the sixth but the game began to unravel when center fielder Jimmy Kerrigan hit a leadoff single and Josh Silver followed with a walk, the only one issued by Foss.

Pinch-hitter Brandon Thomas advanced both baserunners with a bunt and catcher Mike Jurgella smacked a two-run single to give the Rascals a 2-1 lead.

Jurgella’s hit snapped a scoreless streak of 23 consecutive innings, dating back to last season, for River City at Wild Things Park.

The Rascals were shut out in their previous two games in Washington.

Two more singles before the sixth inning ended pushed across another run, and River City tacked on an important insurance run in the top of the seventh against reliever Davis Adkins. Jason Merjano was hit by a pitch, stole second base and scored on a single by Kerrigan, a rookie from Philadelphia who played college baseball at Virginia Commonwealth, to make it a 4-1 game.

That run was key because Washington scored two times in the bottom of the seventh. The Wild Things loaded the bases with no outs as Sweeney led off with a walk, Hector Roa doubled and Mike Hill was hit by a pitch.

That was all for Ludwig, who was replaced by closer Nick Kennedy, who was making his 217th career appearance, the second most in Frontier League history. Kennedy got newcomer Justin Bohr to bounce back to the mound, which triggered a home-to-first double play.

Kyle Pollock then laced a two-run single that made it a one-run game, but Kennedy got his third save by getting Peoples-Walls to also bounce back to the mound to end the seven-inning game.

“Our pitching was good enough but we still made mistakes at critical times,” Langbehn said.

Pitcher Hunter Williams, who started three games for the Wild Things before being released June 3, was drafted Wednesday in the 11th round by the Colorado Rockies. He was the 326th overall selection in the first-year player draft.

The 21-year-old Williams, who played last season for the University of North Carolina, had an 0-1 record and 7.29 ERA with Washington. He is the first person to be drafted after playing for the Wild Things.

Washington made several roster moves. Relief pitcher Joe Ravert was placed on the 14-day disabled list retroactive to June 8 and pitcher Trevor Belicek, who started the season in the rotation, was released. Belicek had a 1-3 record and 10.95 ERA. Pitcher Vince Apicella was activated from the disabled list and shortstop Justin Bohn was signed. Washington has 23 active players, one under the Frontier League limit. … Bohn was a seventh-round draft pick of the Miami Marlins in 2013 and was recently released from Class A Jupiter of the Florida State League. Bohn started both games of the doubleheader.

CUSTOMER LOGIN

If you have an account and are registered for online access, sign in with your email address and password below.

NEW CUSTOMERS/UNREGISTERED ACCOUNTS

Never been a subscriber and want to subscribe, click the Subscribe button below.

Starting at $3.75/week.

Subscribe Today