Jul 1, 2023 4 min read

After spending much of the week snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, the Wild Things flipped the script Saturday night and stole a win from the Schaumburg Boomers with a late-innings comeback.

Washington trailed 3-0 entering the bottom of the seventh inning when it scratched out one run on a misplayed fly ball, then scored five times on only two hits in the eighth for a stunning 6-3 victory.

Center fielder Robert Chayka hit a broken-bat two-run single that gave the Wild Things their first lead at 4-3, and right fielder Anthony Brocato capped the comeback with a two-run flare single over the head of leaping Boomers shortstop Alec Craig that scored the final two runs.

“We kept fighting. We don’t give up,” Chayka said.

Up 3-1 to start the bottom of the eighth, Schaumburg lifted starting pitcher Luis Perez, who struck out eight over seven innings and allowed one unearned run.

The Boomers turned to usually reliable reliever Dylan Stutsman (0-2), who suddenly couldn’t locate the strike zone with his pitches. Stutsman walked four of the five batters he faced. His one-out walk to Tommy Caufield brought home Scotty Dubrule and cut Schaumburg’s lead to 3-2.

Kristian Scott replaced Stutsman on the mound and the first batter he faced was Chayka. The rookie from Kansas Wesleyan jumped on the first pitch from Scott.

“Each of my first three at-bats, they threw me a slider, sitting middle to away,” Chayka explained.

Chayka was ready for another slider away, which is what was thrown, and connected with Scott’s initial offering. The only problem was the pitch broke Chayka’s bat. The ball, however, had been driven hard enough to get into shallow center field, scoring Wagner Lagrange and Andrew Czech, and giving Washington a 4-2 lead.

“To be honest, if it hadn’t broken the bat it might have been a flyout to the outfield,” Chayka said. “We might have gotten a break.”

That Chayka was swinging on the first pitch from Scott, a new pitcher into the game, with the bases loaded, after four walks in a five-batter stretch, goes against what is often considered smart baseball — make the new pitcher throw a strike before swinging.

That wasn’t the Wild Things’ plan.

“When you have runners in scoring position, you never ever give the pitcher a freebie,” Washington manager Tom Vaeth said. “If he throws a cookie in the middle of the plate, then you have to be ready. That’s what good RBI guys do. We had a situation just like that in the series at New York and we gave the pitcher a freebie.”

Washington was shut out for six innings by Perez, then caught a break in the seventh after Chayka drew a one-out walk. Two batters later, Abraham Sequera lofted a fly ball deep into the left-field corner that Schaumburg’s Gaige Howard slightly overran and the ball fell in fair territory, allowing Chayka to score from first base and cut the Boomers’ lead to 3-1.

That was the first time all night that Washington had a runner advance as far as third base, including an inning when the Wild Things had three hits. They hurt themselves with multiple baserunning mistakes.

“We had a talk before the game. You can call it a meeting,” Vaeth said. “I told them that I believe this with all my heart: our record (18-26) is not a case of a lack of talent. It’s the result of a lack of structure and discipline. We are struggling in those areas and it showed in this game. We fought ourselves.

“But the guys in that clubhouse are not quitting. They’re going to play hard every night.”

Washington starting pitcher Stephen Knapp gave up three runs over 5 1/3 innings. Two of the RBI hits by the Boomers didn’t leave the infield. The first, by Brett Milazzo, also was a broken-bat single.

Ray Pacella followed Knapp with 1 2/3 scoreless innings of relief. Will Solomon (1-2) pitched a scoreless eighth inning for the win and Lukas Young pitched the ninth for his fourth save.