Reed, Czech power Wild Things back into first place
To say it wasn’t a pitcher’s kind of evening at Wild Things Park was like saying the occupants of the local senior citizens center aren’t Metallica’s kind of audience.
It had been about three weeks since the Wild Things found themselves in a slugfest, where the hits, runs and pitching changes were plentiful. In other words, the kind of games in which Washington’s Tyreque Reed and Andrew Czech can do a lot of damage.
Washington found itself in such a game in the first inning Sunday against Windy City and that suited Reed and Czech, who played key roles in the Wild Things’ 11-9 victory.
Reed, playing in only his third game since being injured at Florence on June 1, went 4-for-5 with his first two home runs of the season. He had five RBI.
“I felt like I was just starting to get in a groove when I got hurt,” said Reed, who suffered a bruised knee sliding into third base in the Florence game that was played in the rain.
“The game had started to slow down for me. But I’ve been able to pick up where I left off.”
Reed lined a two-run double to the wall in center field in the first inning off Windy City starter Michael Barker and added a solo homer to right centerfield in the second. In the fourth, Reed hit a two-run homer off Barker that gave Washington a 9-6 lead. He added a line-drive single in the seventh.
“When he got hurt, seemed like he was more comfortable at the plate,” Washington manager Tom Vaeth said of Reed, a former Texas Rangers and Boston Red Sox farmhand.
“He wasn’t as jumpy and he started staying back on pitches and pulling balls.”
While Reed had the big offensive game, Czech had the contest’s pivotal at-bat. Czech had only one hit in the contest but it was important and went a long way. He belted a tiebreaking two-run homer to left field off Windy City reliever Jake Mahoney (5-3) in the bottom of the eighth inning, giving Washington the victory.
The two-out homer scored Ethan Wilder, who had drawn a leadoff walk and stolen second base.
The Wild Things might have felt more like they survived the game instead of winning the contest. Washington fell behind 3-0 in the top of the first inning but answered with a six-run bottom of the first and held a four-run lead in the second. Windy City battled back and tied the score at 9-9 in the seventh.
Washington pitcher Nick MacDonald (1-0) stopped the Thunderbolts’ offense with 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief to get the win. Gyeongju Kim pitched the ninth inning for his 13th save.
“Nick MacDonald did a great job,” Vaeth said, “and Kim did his normal thing in the ninth.”
The win, combined with New Jersey’s 8-0 victory over Lake Erie, moved Washington back into first place in the Frontier League’s West Division, a half-game ahead of the Crushers.
Washington had 15 hits and Windy City, which entered the game with the lowest batting average in the 16-team league, had 14 hits. The ThunderBolts’ Christian Kuzemka was 4-for-5 with a home run and four RBI.
Every Washington starter had at least one hit. Brandon McIlwain, Evan Berkey, Robert Chayka and Reed also doubled in Washington’s six-run first inning.
Washington starter Jordan DiValerio gave up 11 hits and six runs (four earned) in five innings. He walked one and struck out five.
Extra bases
Washington pitcher Christian James (0-0, 2 saves, 1.05) has been added to the West Division team for the Frontier League All-Star Game that will be played July 17 in Quebec City. He has 30 strikeouts in 25 2/3 innings over 14 appearances. … Washington placed outfielder Anthony Boccio on the suspended list Saturday. Boccio, who was the PSAC East Division Player of the Year this spring at West Chester, was signed June 29 and had appeared in only one game, as a pinch-runner.