Wild Things sweep twinbill, await playoffs
On the final day of the winningest regular season in Wild Things history, Washington won.
Twice.
The Wild Things swept a doubleheader Sunday against the Schaumburg Boomers, 4-2 and 6-5, before a sellout crowd of 3,267.
The sweep gives Washington a 67-28 record, the best in the franchise’s 22-year season history. The previous best record was 63-32 in 2005. The Wild Things won the West Division title by eight games over second-place Gateway.
“This team showed a thirst for winning,” Washington manager Tom Vaeth said. “When they did lose, they weren’t a happy bunch. One big thing was they never seemed to get complacent.”
The regular season ended much better than it started. Playing on the same field back in May, Washington was swept in a three-game series by Schaumburg. It was Washington’s only three-game losing streak all year.
“You know what turned it around?” Vaeth asked. “After we started 0-3, the way we responded with the road trip (to New England and Tri-City). We hit the ground running from there.”
The doubleheader sweep by Washington proved to be very costly to Schaumburg, which was eliminated from playoff contention on the season’s final day.
The Boomers began Sunday tied with Lake Erie for the final wild-card playoff spot from the West. Because Saturday’s game against the Wild Things was rained out, forcing a doubleheader, Schaumburg needed to win one more game than Lake Erie on Sunday to make the playoffs. The Crushers lost 4-2 at Joliet, but before that game ended the Crushers had learned they made the postseason because of the results in Washington.
“I’m super proud of these guys,” Vaeth said. “They didn’t have anything to play for but it was a great rehearsal for the playoffs because they eliminated someone.
“You need that killer instinct in the playoffs. Some of our guys haven’t been through it, and I hope they believe me when I say that playoff baseball is different than the regular season.”
The Wild Things will begin the playoffs Thursday in the best-of-3 divisional series. They will play Thursday at the winner of the wild-card game between Lake Erie and Gateway, which will be played Tuesday. The Wild Things will host Games 2 and 3, if necessary, Saturday and Sunday.
In the opening game against Schaumburg, Washington hit three solo home runs, two by Caleb McNeely – who on Saturday was named the league’s Most Valuable Player — and one by Andrew Czech. The Wild Things also scored a run on an error.
Jordan DiValerio and four relievers combined on a five-hitter. Christian James (3-1) faced only one batter but got the game’s biggest out. In the fourth, with Washington leading 3-2, Schaumburg had two on with two outs but James entered and retired Christian Fedko on an inning-ending groundout.
Gyeongju Kim got the game’s final three outs for his 28th save.
Tyreque Reed, Washington’s designated hitter, entered the nightcap with a chance to win the league’s batting title. In the opening game, Reed had reached the necessary plate appearances to qualify for the title but still needed to go 2-for-2 to pass Rafael Gladu of Trois-Rivieres, who had finished the year batting .340.
Reed singled in the first and third innings and was lifted for a pinch-runner after the latter. He finished the year with a .341 average, winning the batting title by .0008. Reed is the first player to win a Frontier League batting title while playing for the Wild Things.
“I didn’t know why they were taking me out of the game,” Reed said. “I had no idea that I had a chance for the batting title. Actually, I didn’t feel I was having a good year, to be honest. I felt like I should have had more hits.”
With Schaumburg in a must-win situation, Washington jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the first inning of the nightcap. Wagner Lagrange had a three-run homer.
Schaumburg battled back behind two home runs by left fielder Aaron Simmons and took a 5-4 lead in the top of the third. In the bottom of the inning, Reed led off with a single and pinch-runner Tommy Caufield stole second base. He would score on a ringing double by Czech that tied the score.
Jake Washer, playing in only his third game with Washington since being acquired at the transaction deadline last month, smacked a two-out single that scored Czech and gave Washington a 6-5 lead.
Nick MacDonald (4-1) and Ryan Munoz combined for four scoreless innings of relief. Munoz pitched two innings for his second save.