Jun 20, 2021 4 min read

Prior to the Wild Things’ game Saturday night against Lake Erie, the Frontier League held ceremonies to induct six members of its latest Hall of Fame class. The inductees, which included former Wild Things players Jared Howton, Jonathan Kountis and Josh Loggins, were honored and remembered for their exploits and contributions to the league.

Then the Wild Things and Crushers played a game that many would like to forget.

Lake Erie overcame five errors by scoring three runs in the top of the 10th inning to beat Washington 8-6 in a game that lasted more than four hours.

“That was actually one of our shorter games,” Lake Erie manager Dan Rohn said.

It also was one of the Crushers’ better wins, though it was far from a masterpiece. Lake Erie erased a 2-0 deficit and forged a 5-2 lead, watched Washington score three times in the seventh to tie, then scored three times in the 10th to win an exhausting road game. Crushers reliever Daniel Kight (1-0), a sidearming rookie out of Division II North Greenville University, secured the win by wiggling out of full-blown jams in both the ninth and 10th innings.

Washington loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the ninth, but Kight got out of it when Joe Campagna, who had a clutch hit in the seventh inning, bounced to third base, leading to Grant Heyman being thrown out at home plate, and Andrew Czech struck out to end the inning.

“Kight is a guy we signed out of the California Winter League. He has a lot of guts and some really deceptive stuff,” Rohn said. “He’s a competitive kid and can make some people look really bad. All year he’s been lights out for us.”

Washington left 15 runners on base, but it was a defensive play and one messy inning that bothered manager Tom Vaeth.

In the fifth, with Washington leading 2-0, the Crushers’ Isaac Bernard was on first base with one out. A quick pickoff move by Washington starter McKenzie Mills surprised Bernard, who broke for second base. The throw from Czech, the Wild Things’ first baseman, was wide of second base, allowing Bernard to advance. The next batter, Brody Wofford, hit a game-tying two-run homer.

“We left some plays on the field and didn’t cash in while they took advantage of their opportunities,” Vaeth said. “We were up 2-0 and pick a guy off. If we execute a simple catch and throw, it’s nobody on base and two outs.”

Lake Erie took a 5-2 lead in the seventh, when Washington reliever B.J. Sabol, who had allowed only one hit and no runs in nine outings, was touched for three runs. Sabol walked two and threw two wild pitches and Wofford had a run-scoring single. Washington also made an error in the inning.

Washington battled back in the bottom of the seventh, tying the score at 5-5 by getting a two-out, two-run single from newcomer Andrew Sohn and Campagna’s pinch-hit RBI infield single that bounced high off home plate.

Lake Erie won it with three runs in the 10th inning tiebreaker against Washington closer Zach Strecker (0-1). Connor Oliver drove in one run with a leadoff double and scored on Zack Gray’s single. Gray made it 8-5, scoring after a double by Trevor Achenbach and a sacrifice fly off the bat of Bernard.

Connor Perry’s infield single and an ensuing throwing error pulled Washington to within 8-6. The Wild Things got a double from Bralin Jackson to put runners on second and third with two outs, but Kight got a game-ending strikeout.

“We have come back and win the series,” Vaeth said. “The only way we’re going to get back in this is to win series. That has to be our focus.”