Aug 19, 2021 4 min read

Baseball teams are like automobiles: They need good sparkplugs to get the engine roaring and generating momentum.

For the Wild Things, shortstop Nick Ward is that sparkplug.

Ward leads the Frontier League in walks (55) and on-base percentage (.450). He is what pitchers call a pest. He is patient. Very, very patient. He seems to always be on base.

The left-handed hitter fouls off good pitches, he doesn’t swing if the pitch is out of the strike zone, and when a pitcher leaves one over the middle of the plate, he has the power to drive it over the outfield wall.

All of those traits were on display in July, when the Wild Things had a 17-9 record and made a surge toward the top of the Northeast Division standings. Ward was the catalyst. He batted .280 in July, which wasn’t the best mark on the team but he did lead Washington in runs and doubles during the month. He also had a .496 on-base percentage in July and produced 15 of his 19 stolen bases over the 31-day period.

Ward, however, has been out of the lineup for a week and the Wild Things’ offense is sputtering without him. Ward injured his back while lifting weights last Friday and has not played since. Entering Thursday night’s game against Lake Erie, which was delayed because of rain and was not completed by press time, Washington had a 2-3 record in the current stretch without Ward.

The good news for the Wild Things is that Ward, who played is college baseball in the PSAC at West Chester, is hopeful of returning this weekend.

“I’m feeling much better,” Ward said. “I’m targeting a Saturday return. I’m trying to get in three days of full baseball-specific activities before returning. It was unfortunate that I hurt my back because I was starting to get back in my groove.”

Ward said he is not sure if he injured the back trying to perform a deadlift, or if he had tweaked something in his back during the previous night in a game at Lake Erie.

Washington sure can use a healthy Ward. This is the second time he has been out of the lineup with an injury. Ward began the season on the disabled list because of a groin strain and Washington lost five of its first seven games.

For the season, Ward is batting .290 with 14 doubles and five home runs.

Championship duo

Ward was the Wild Things’ second baseman for the majority of the season but has shifted to shortstop since the arrival of former Mississippi State standout Scotty Dubrule. With Dubrule at second base and Ward at shortstop, Washington has a middle-infield combination with a pair of national championships.

Dubrule helped Mississippi to the title this spring at the College World Series in Omaha. Ward won a Division II national title in 2017 as a junior at West Chester.

“I feel more comfortable at shortstop because that’s the position I’ve played the majority of my baseball life,” Ward said. “But my skillset projects better at second base.”

Streaks

The Wild Things have twice swept a six-game homestand this season, most recently July 27-Aug. 1 when they defeated New Jersey and Tri-City three times each. The first six-game sweep came July 6-11 with three wins over New Jersey followed by three against New York.

Six game-homestand sweeps have been rare in Wild Things history. Before this season, the last time Washington went 6-0 on a homestand was June 5-10 in 2018, when the Wild Things defeated Traverse City and Joliet three times each.

Before that, you have to go all the way back to Aug. 3-8, 2005 to find Washington winning every game in a six-night homestand. That year, Washington defeated River City and Mid-Missouri three times each. Those wins were part of a team-record 13-game winning streak.

2022 schedule

Frontier League deputy commissioner Steve Tahsler recently told the Observer-Reporter that work has not yet started on a schedule for 2022, when the Frontier League will have 16 teams, two more than this season. The expansion Ottawa Titans will make their debut while the Quebec City Capitales and Trois-Rivieres Aigles will field teams after merging to form Equipe Quebec this year.

Tahsler said one scheduling format that could be used has teams playing each of its division opponents 12 times and each of the four remaining intraconference opponents nine times. Under this plan, there will be 24 games – one three-game series – played against each of the eight teams from the opposite conference. Teams would make one trip to each interconference opponent every two years.