Three former Wild Things chosen for Frontier League Hall of Fame
The Frontier League’s latest Hall of Fame class, announced Thursday, includes three former Wild Things players.
Chosen for the 2020-21 class – the league did not play in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, thus two classes have been combined – are six former players from three different decades and two special contributors.
The former Wild Things selected are catcher/outfielder Josh Loggins and pitchers Jared Howton and Jonathan Kountis. They are joined by former players Corey Morris, Joe Pass and Mike Torres and special contributors Kevin Rouch and Rich Sauget Sr.
“This class represents some of the finest players to ever take the field during the league’s first 27 years. The contributions of Rich Sauget Sr., and Kevin Rouch will never be forgotten.” said Frontier League commissioner emeritus Bill Lee.
Loggins played for the first two Wild Things teams, in 2002 and 2003. He helped Washington advance to the league finals in 2002. The next year, Loggins dominated at the the plate and was named the league’s Most Valuable Player despite being signed by the Colorado Rockies in mid-August and being assigned to Class AA.
Playing a little more than one full season with Washington, Loggins had a .339 batting average, 31 doubles, 29 home runs and 117 RBI. He led the league in home runs in 2003, was third in batting average and fourth in RBI.
Loggins and Howton were teammates in 2002 and 2003. A left-handed starter, Howton was the ace of the Wild Things’ staff in 2002, when he was named the league’s Pitcher of the Year, winning 11 games and posting an impressive league-leading 1.89 ERA. Howton had a career record in the Frontier League of 21-8 with a 2.94 ERA.
Kountis was a two-time all-star who played for three teams, the Lake Erie Crushers in 2012, Frontier Greys in 2013 and the Wild Things for two seasons, 2014-15.
Both a starter and reliever in his career, Kountis left his mark in the league as a closer. He had an 11-14 career record and 3.00 ERA, but his 59 career saves ranks second on the league’s all-time list. He struck out 188 batters in 162 career innings.
In 2014, Kountis had a league-record 32 saves and 2.51 ERA for Washington.
“Having been here since the beginning, it’s great to see the Wild Things adding three more former players to the Frontier League Hall of Fame,” said Wild Things executive director Steven Zavacky. “Jared and Josh were huge pieces of our highly successful teams in the beginning and Jonathan was a big part of helping us get back to the playoffs. We’re excited for them to be honored by the league and join our other former players in history.”
Morris played for the Ohio Valley Reedcoats in 1994, when he was the league MVP, batting .394 with 19 home runs and 63 RBI. He had an amazing 1.252 OPS and led the league in home runs, RBI, doubles and walks.
Pass played for the Richmond Roosters for three years (1996-98) and the DuBois County Dragons, where he was player-manager in 1999. He had a .325 career batting average and 133 RBI. He was a two-time all-star.
Torres was a longtime player (2010-15) for the Windy City ThunderBolts. He had a .294 career batting average with 207 RBI and 153 stolen bases in 565 career games. He played in a league-record 339 consecutive games and was a four-time all-star.
Rouch joined the Frontier League as the radio broadcaster for the Zanesville Greys from 1993-96. He was the voice of the Chillicothe Paints from 1997 to 2000 and was selected as the Frontier League Broadcaster of the Year in 1998. Rouch then became deputy commissioner and league council in 2001, serving in these roles through the 2009 season. He created the first Frontier League website and was responsible for the Frontier League qualifying for P-1 work visas for international players.
Sauget, who is owner of the Gateway Grizzlies, joined the league in 1999. From 2003 through 2020, he was president of the league’s Board of Directors. During Sauget’s tenure, the league experienced tremendous growth as six new stadiums were built. He helped oversee the admission of the six teams from the Can-Am League after the 2019 season. In 2020, Major League Baseball named the Frontier League as a Partner League, one of the most important moments in league history.
Morris, Pass, Howton, Loggins, Kountis and Rouch will have their induction ceremonies in Washington on June 19. The ceremony will take place prior to the Wild Things’ game against the Lake Erie Crushers. Induction ceremonies for Sauget and Torres will take place in Gateway and Windy City. Dates for those ceremonies will be announced later.