Jun 7, 2024 By Chris Dugan 3 min read

The Wild Things’ victory Friday night over the Joliet Slammers, and how it played out, raised two questions about Frontier League records.

The first: Did Washington’s 35-year-old left fielder Quincy Latimore become the oldest player in Frontier League history to hit a triple?

The second: Can Wild Things first baseman Andrew Czech, who homered for the second consecutive night, break the league record for consecutive games reaching base?

Both hits played large roles in Washington’s 3-1 win before a sellout crowd of 3,458, the largest of the season at Wild Things Park.

Latimore’s RBI triple came in Washington’s two-run fourth inning that gave the Wild Things the lead. Czech’s home run, his seventh of the season, provided a key insurance run in the sixth inning.

For more than a decade, the Frontier League had a strict age limit of 27 for its players. That has been changed in recent years as the league’s rosters have become filled with players who are slightly older and more experienced than in those early days. Still, at 35 and with seven years of experience at the Class AA level, Latimore is a rarity, as was his triple.

Czech’s home run extended his consecutive game on-base streak to 56, which dates back to the 2023 season. The league record is listed as 65 games, set by Jonathan Johnson of Gateway in 2012.

Joliet took a 1-0 lead in the third inning against Washington starter Jordan DiValerio (3-1). Jake Allgeyer grounded a leadoff double down the left-field line for the game’s first hit. He moved to third base on a fielder’s choice and scored on Liam McArthur’s sacrifice fly to right field.

DiValerio had a stellar performance. The former Boston Red Sox farmhand pitched eight innings and allowed only three hits and one run. He struck out 10 and did not issue a walk. DiValerio got stronger as the game progressed. He struck out four of the final five batters he faced.

Rookie Gyeongju Kim pitched the ninth inning, retiring all three batters he faced for his seventh save.

Washington took a 2-1 lead in the fourth against Joliet starter Dwayne Marshall (0-3). Right fielder Robert Chayka drew a one-out walk and Latimore followed with his RBI triple that hit the wall at the angle in left centerfield, the deepest part of the ballpark.

Tommy Caufield followed with a line-drive single to center field that scored Latimore and put Washington ahead.

Czech, who was 0-for-2 at the time, hit a 1-2 pitch from Marshall the opposite way and over the wall in left field with one out in the sixth to make it 3-1. It was the final pitch thrown by Marshall, who allowed three hits and three runs in 5 1/3 innings. He walked four and struck out five.

Extra bases

Game time was two hours and five minutes. … The three-game series continues Saturday night (7:05). Dariel Fregio (3-1) will pitch for Washington. … Former Wild Things relief pitcher James Meeker made his major-league debut with the Milwaukee Brewers after being promoted from Class AAA. He pitched a scoreless inning against Detroit. … The contest was the first in a 12-game, 14-day road trip for Joliet.