Wild Things’ loss has familiar look
Day 2 of the Frontier League season in Washington looked a lot like opening day. It was too much so for the Wild Things’ liking.
For the second night in a row, one big inning by the Schaumburg Boomers against the Washington bullpen, a lack of hitting by the Wild Things, including an alarming number of strikeouts, led to a second consecutive 6-3 loss for Washington on Saturday.
The one bad inning was the eighth, when Schaumburg scored four runs to turn a 3-2 deficit into a 6-3 lead. The first eight Boomers batters of the inning reached base.
The lack of hitting came after the first inning, when Washington forged a 3-0 lead. It included a home run, for the second day in a row, by Andrew Czech.
The Wild Things were shut out the rest of the way by four Schaumburg pitchers. Washington batters struck out 15 times after going down on strikes 11 times on opening night.
Washington has eight hits over two games and Schaumburg’s bullpen has thrown eight scoreless innings.
“We’ve come out of the gate cold swinging the bats,” Washington manager Tom Vaeth said. “We’re striking out too much. I know it will come around. You just have to ride it out.”
After being held to five hits Friday, Washington seemed to come around in the first inning against Schaumburg starter Cole Cook, who was the Frontier League’s Pitcher of the Year last season when he played for Joliet.
The Wild Things, who did not have a single on Friday, began this game with consecutive hits, by Caleb McNeely and Tommy Caufield. When Caufield hit was misplayed for a two-base error in right field, McNeely raced around the bases to give Washington a 1-0 lead. A wild pitch by Cook allowed Caufield to score the inning’s second run. Two batters later, Czech hit a long solo home run to right field that made it 3-0.
That, however, was it for Washington’s scoring. Cook retired 11 in a row at one stretch before exiting after six innings. He walked two and struck out nine.
“That guy we faced tonight is good,” Vaeth said. “Cole Cook settled in after the first inning. He dropped every pitch he had in for strikes.”
Though he got a no-decision, Cook gave the Boomers a chance to win.
“We saw Cole enough when he was in Joliet. We’ve seen him bounce back. That’s why he was the Pitcher of the Year last season,” Schaumburg manager Jamie Bennett said. “That first inning we didn’t help him out defensively.”
Washington starter Kobe Foster went only four innings. He gave five hits and two runs, including a leadoff homer to Ryan McCarthy in the second inning. Tyler Depreta-Johnson led off the third with a triple and scored when Chase Dawson grounded out, making it a 3-2 score.
It stayed that way through the seventh because of some good work by Washington relief pitchers Gyeongju Kim and Alex Carrillo. Kim, pitching for the second day in a row, retired six of the seven batters he faced. Carrillo followed with a 1-2-3 seventh inning.
In the eighth, everything fell apart for Washington, much like it did in the seventh inning Friday. Washington reliever Justin Goossen-Brown (0-1), who was very reliable last season, gave up a leadoff double to Depreta-Johnson and an RBI triple to Dawson that tied the score. Alec Craig and Kyle Fitzgerald were each hit by pitches, loading the bases. Seth Gray then lined a go-ahead single to right field, making it 4-3.
That was all for Goossen-Brown, who was replaced on the mound by Nick McDonald, who gave up a two-run single to McCarthy.
The Boomers might have had an even bigger inning had they not made the first two outs of the frame at third base.
Washington managed to load the bases with one out in the bottom of the ninth against Schaumburg closer Jake Joyce, who earned his second save. Joyce wiggled out of a tight spot with a popout and groundout.
“I’d like to see our approaches improve,” Vaeth said. “We’re taking too many plus-count swings when we’re behind in the count. Again, it’s early. We’re just out of sync right now.”
Extra bases
The start of the game was delayed for 40 minutes because of rain. … The series finale is today with a rare 1:35 p.m. start at Wild Things Park. … Schaumburg reliever Matt Helweg (1-0) tossed two scoreless innings and was the winning pitcher.