Wild Things lose, still clinch East Division title
The Wild Things are finding out the importance of building a lead.
Even though Washington’s one-run lead in the sixth inning was spoiled when Lake Erie tied the game in the seventh and Zach Racusin hit a walk-off home run to give the Crushers a 6-5 victory Saturday, the most important lead was the one it built in the standings.
Despite losing their last two games, the Wild Things clinched the Frontier League’s East Division when Schaumburg defeated Joliet, 7-5. Washington entered its final regular-season series needing only one win or a Joliet loss.
The Wild Things forged ahead twice after falling behind to Lake Erie. Trailing 2-0 in the fifth inning, Kyle Pollock hit a solo home run and Roman Collins hit a two-run double to take a 3-2 lead. After the Crushers answered with a pair of runs in the bottom of the inning, an RBI groundout from Carter McEachern and a wild pitch in the sixth allowed Washington to retake a one-run lead, 5-4.
Kewby Meyer’s sacrifice fly tied the game an inning later before Racusin, who was one of Washington’s final cuts in spring training, ended the game.