Wild Things sweep Lake Erie, clinch West Division title
AVON, Ohio – Wagner Lagrange homered, Jordan DiValerio pitched seven shutout innings and the Wild Things defeated the Lake Erie Crushers 2-1 Sunday afternoon to sweep a three-game series and clinch the Frontier League’s West Division title.
It is the ninth division title in franchise history and the third in four years under manager Tom Vaeth.
Washington improved its season record to 63-26, which is seven games better than second-place Gateway with six games remaining in the regular season. The 63 wins ties the franchise record. The 2005 Wild Things team also won 63 games.
The league record for wins in a season is 68, set by Windy City in 2007 and matched by River City in 2011.
Against Lake Erie, Tyreque Reed gave Washington a 1-0 lead in the first inning with an RBI double off Crushers starter Anthony Escobar (8-4). The hit scored Tommy Caufield.
Lagrange led off the fourth inning with his 11th home run of the season, an opposite-field shot to right centerfield that gave Washington a 2-0 lead.
DiValerio (10-2) shut out Lake Erie on two hits through seven innings. He walked two and struck out three.
DiValerio was replaced in the eighth by Christian James, who gave up two singles to start the inning but catcher J.C. Santini picked off pinch-runner Walner Espinal at second base for the first out.
Alex Carrillo later relieved James and gave up an RBI single to Jarrod Watkins but got two key strikeouts.
Rookie closer Gyeongju Kim pitched a scoreless ninth inning for his league-leading 25th save.
Washington will begin a three-game series Tuesday at Windy City before wrapping up the regular season with a weekend set at Wild Things Park against Schaumburg.
The Wild Things will begin the Frontier League playoffs Thursday, Sept. 5 at the wild-card winner, which will be Gateway, Lake Erie or Schaumburg, then return home for Game 2 on Saturday, Sept. 7, and Game 3, if necessary, on Sunday, Sept. 8.