Aug 21, 2018 5 min read

Twelve more days of sublime purgatory remain.

A dozen more days of agony, ecstasy and overpriced beer. Twelve days that will leave all involved about a dozen years older, and will be worth every crease in the brow, every hair that turns to gray.

The Frontier League office couldn’t have scripted a better or tighter playoff race than the one currently unfolding. The two division winners and two remaining teams with the best records make the playoffs, which are scheduled to begin Sept. 4. Deep into Tuesday night, the top nine teams were separated by only seven games. In the West Division, the top four teams are so tightly packed in the standings that you can’t run a piece of dental floss between them.

But with 12 days remaining in the season, there is plenty of time for unexpected surprises. And the Wild Things received two of them Tuesday that left the entire left side of its infield out for the season. Mike Hill, the starting third baseman, was placed on the 60-day disabled list because of a sore hip. Shortstop Brett Marr is still on the active roster but has a broken bone in his hand.

While it was indeed a shot to the Wild Things, they also received two pleasant surprises as left fielder Roman Collins and second baseman Carter McEachern – two players not known for hitting the long ball – each smacked three-run homers in the third inning to power Washington to a 10-3 victory over Schaumburg.

The win increased Washington’s lead in the East Division to 1½ games over second-place Joliet, which was rained out at Lake Erie. The Slammers and Crushers will play a doubleheader today.

“Of course, losing Mike Hill and Brett Marr on the same day is a blow to the team,” said McEachern, who went 4-for-4 with a career-high five RBI.

“We’ve gotten to the point where we all have to step up for us to continue winning. Our pitching has been phenomenal. We’ve been putting up runs and the pitchers have been shutting them down.”

That in a nutshell was the case against Schaumburg. Hector Roa hit a solo homer in the second inning to give the Wild Things a 1-0 lead and the Wild Things scored six times in the third against Boomers starter Payton Lobdell (4-8).

With Washington chasing its first division title since 2007, Collins hit a three-run homer that smacked off the division-title banner in right field that made it 4-0. It was Collins’ eighth home run of the season but first since July 29 and his first at Wild Things Park since June 8.

Reydel Medina and Roa followed Collins’ homer with singles. McEachern made it five hits in a row for Washington by hitting his three-run homer to right centerfield. It was only his third home run of the season.

“You’ve got to cherish those,” McEachern said.

The 7-0 lead was enough for Washington starter Thomas Dorminy (9-4), who threw eight strong innings. The Frontier League ERA leader allowed seven hits, one walk and three runs (two earned). Dorminy was spotted a 10-0 lead after the Wild Things scored three times in the fifth inning. Two of the runs came on a McEachern double to the gap in left centerfield.

“Carter has been bouncing around in the lineup between sixth and seventh,” Washington manager Gregg Langbehn said. “He had some good swings in this game. We’ll have to make adjustments with our infield, but those guys are professionals so we expect them to step in and for it to be seamless.”

Hill is out because of pain in a hip. He had surgery to repair a hip labrum last offseason but Wild Things director of baseball operations Tony Buccilli said the surgery did not ease Hill’s pain.

“He anticipated being 100 percent after the surgery but he was dealing with pain on a daily basis,” Buccilli said. “The rigors of day-to-day baseball was too much and we had to put him on the 60-day disabled list.”

Marr’s situation stems from being hit with a pitch last week in a game at Traverse City. He wasn’t aware that he had broken a bone until after diving for a ball Sunday at Windy City.

“Mike Hill is a quiet leader who plays hard, is leading the team in home runs and is the best defensive third baseman in the league,” Langbehn said. “I don’t know if we can replace that.”

Extra bases

Collins has a 15-game hitting streak and a 30-game on-base streak. … For the third time in his career, and the second time this season, Washington right-hander Chase Cunningham was named the Frontier League Pitcher of the Week. Cunningham received this past week’s honor for his performance in a win Saturday at Windy City. In his only start during the week, Cunningham (7-5) pitched eight scoreless innings in Washington’s 1-0 victory. … Washington announced that all playoff tickets will be $5 to sit anywhere in the ballpark and will be free to youths ages 12 and under.