Wild Things overcome 5-run deficit, beat Crushers
One thing you have to like about Wild Things rookie Tristan Peterson is his incredible sense of timing.
With Washington saddled with a five-run deficit against Lake Erie in the sixth inning Thursday night and facing the possibility of losing both the series and another game in the standings to Northeast Division leader Sussex County, even the most optimistic Wild Things fan had to admit the situation appeared bleak.
However, that’s when Lake Erie replaced lefthanded starting pitcher Dillon Larsen, who had blanked the Wild Things on four hits through 5 1/3 innings, in favor of righthanded reliever Tanner Driskill to face Peterson, who entered the night with a robust .483 batting average.
Peterson stepped into the batter’s box and pulled the second pitch from Driskill down the left-field line for his first professional home run, a two-run shot that pumped life into the home team. His first home run could not have come at a better time as it jump-started the Wild Things and sent them on to a thrilling 7-5 come-from-behind victory.
Peterson admitted that he wasn’t sure if his fly ball had enough distance to clear the outfield wall. It wasn’t exactly a no-doubter, but it was just as effective.
“I didn’t get all of it, but I knew it had a chance,” said Peterson, who played this spring at Washington State.
Peterson’s home run, which scored Andrew Sohn, gave Washington a chance. Left fielder Grant Heyman, who was the only person with better timing than Peterson, won it for the Wild Things. Heyman hit a towering two-run, tiebreaking homer to right centerfield with two outs in the seventh off Taylor Sugg, giving the Wild Things their first lead of the night, 7-5. It was Heyman’s eighth home run.
It turned what had been a rough night for Heyman into a memorable one. He had struck out in each of his two at-bats against Larsen and lost a flyball in the dusk during the second inning, leading to a run that gave Lake Erie a 3-0 lead against Washington starter Daren Osby.
“He had been fighting it,” Washington manager Tom Vaeth said, “but he was smiling going around third base, that was for sure.”
Lake Erie looked like it had a sure thing going for much of the game. The Crushers scored twice in the first inning on an RBI single by Trevor Achenbach and a run-scoring double by Brody Wofford.
Jesus Balaguer (2-3) replaced Osby in the sixth and former Wild Things infielder Javier Betancourt made it 4-0 with a double that scored catcher Bryan DeLaRosa. Betancourt scored on a two-out single by Shawon Dunston Jr., which made the score 5-0 and the outlook dark for the Wild Things.
Larsen, who making only his second pro start, tired in the sixth and walked Sohn with one out, prompting the pitching change and setting up Peterson’s big blast. Larsen struck out five and the walk to Sohn was his only free pass issued.
“You get a different feeling when they go to the bullpen and you see new arms,” Peterson said.
Before the sixth ended, Heyman was on first base with two outs. Joe Campagna then singled to knock Driskill out of the game. Trevor Casanova drew a walk off reliever Taylor Sugg (3-3) to load the bases, then DeLaRosa inexplicably tried to throw behind and pick off Campagna at second base. The throw skipped away, allowing Heyman to race home with the run that cut Lake Erie’s lead to 5-3.
In the seventh, Scotty Dubrule grounded a one-out double over the third-base bag and scored on a single through the right side by Sohn, making it 5-4. A groundout by Peterson advanced Sohn to second base, and Bralin Jackson’s single pushed across the tying run.
Heyman then golfed an 0-1 pitch from Sugg for the game-winning homer.
“There are wins and there are really good wins. That was a really good win,” Vaeth said. “We had to have that one for both the standings and our psyche.
“Peterson got a milestone with his first pro home run. We had talked before batting practice and made a small adjustment. He said he felt good at the plate. He got a pitch up in the zone on the home run, and we had some really good at-bats after that.”
Balaguer pitched a scoreless seventh inning and Dan Kubiuk matched him in the eighth. Zack Strecker closed the game for his 16 save this year and 68th of his career.
“We had two big zeroes,” Vaeth was quick to say. “Jesus settled down and put up a big zero in his second inning and Dan stranded a runner. … That was probably our best win of the year.”
Notes
The start of the game was delayed 44 minutes because of rain. Osby warmed up in the bullpen three different times before the game with the first two attempts being cut short because of rain. … Dubrule, Washington’s rookie second baseman, singled in the first inning, extending his on-base streak to 29 consecutive games. Dubrule, who played for Mississippi State’s College World Series championship team, has been on base in every game since joining the Wild Things. … The Crushers lost outfielder Connor Oliver to a right leg injury suffered when sliding hard into third base on the wet turf in the first inning. He left the ballpark on crutches. … Washington remains 2 1/2 games behind Sussex County, which completed a series sweep of Florence.