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Wild Things continue to scuffle in loss to Boomers

4 min read
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Will the real Washington Wild Things please stand up?

Early this month, the Wild Things put together nine consecutive wins in a charge that pushed them to the top of the Frontier League’s East Division standings. Washington led the division by as many as three games.

That streak seems like a distant memory these days.

The team that could not lose two weeks ago is scuffling as June draws to a close. Washington has lost seven of its last nine games, including a 13-4 thumping delivered by the Schaumburg Boomers in a series opener Friday night at Wild Things Park.

The only good news from the night for Washington was that Lake Erie’s 4-2 loss at Joliet kept the Wild Things and Crushers tied for the division lead.

Schaumburg sent 11 batters to the plate in the first inning, 10 more in the third and led 9-0 in the third. It was a rough outing for Washington starter Chase Cunningham (2-3), who only five days earlier had held the Boomers to two runs over seven strong innings in a Washington win at Schaumburg. This time, the Boomers had 13 hits off Cunningham and scored nine runs in 2 2/3 innings.

“He was lacking fastball command, his location was poor and had no secondary pitches,” Washington manager Gregg Langbehn explained. “We’ll go back to the drawing board on the side. He’s obviously frustrated, It was not a good night.”

Washington relievers Aaron Burns and James Meeker combined for 5 1/3 scoreless innings until Schaumburg’s Kenny Towns grounded a bases-clearing three-run double down the left-field line in the top of the ninth to give the Boomers a 12-4 lead. Towns led Schaumburg’s season-high 21-hit attack with three hits and five RBI.

Left fielder Ty Moore had a two-run triple only three batters into the game and Schaumburg didn’t look back. Moore had a two-run single in the Boomers’ third inning and finished with four RBI. Collin Ferguson and Josh Gardiner each had three hits as the Boomers pulled to within 11/2 games of the Wild Things in the standings.

Things got so bad for Washington in the Boomers’ four-run ninth that outfielder Mick Fennell was brought in to pitch and get the final out. A former two-way player at California University, Fennell faced one batter, getting pinch-hitter James Keller to ground out with a runner on third base.

“All I told (Fennell) was not to balk. I didn’t want the 10-run rule put on us,” Langbehn joked while referring to a high school baseball rule.

Washington managed to score one run in the third inning and two more in the fifth to close to within 9-4 but could get no closer. Second baseman Carter McEachern and left fielder Roman Collins each had two hits with a run and RBI.

“When you give up five in the first and four in the third, it demoralizes your team,” Langbehn said. “Five is not good, but it’s something we’ve had before but it’s tough to come back from nine down.”

Extra bases

Mitch Schulewitz (3-0), who pitched three innings in relief of starter Keaton Cooper, was the winning pitcher. Cooper gave up four runs in 4 1/3 innings. … Schaumburg had 14 hits in the first three innings. Their season-high for a game was 14 entering Friday. … The Normal CornBelters signed former major leaguer Jose Canseco for its three-game series against Florence. Canseco had only one at-bat Friday and struck out. … Washington is expected to sign Taylor Bloom, a rookie from the University of Maryland, to pitch tonight’s 7:05 p.m. game.

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