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Curses! Postseason haunts Wild Things, again

By Chris Dugan 4 min read
article image - Mark Marietta/For the Observer-Reporter
The Washington Wild Things have been waiting a long time for their first Frontier League championship as their postseason history has been dotted with gut-wrenching close calls.

The Quebec Capitales are the New York Yankees of the Frontier League.

They are a franchise with a rich history, one that is filled with championships. The Capitales won six titles over a nine-year period in the now-defunct Can-Am League, which was absorbed by the Frontier League in the fall of 2019.

Quebec became the first team in Frontier League history to win three consecutive championships when it scored five runs in the bottom of the ninth inning Saturday night to rally and walk-off the Wild Things, 7-6, in Game 4 of the best-of-5 championship series.

It doesn’t matter what league the Capitales play in, they win, and win big. Division championships, league championships, the Capitales win ’em all. And they make it look easy. Five-run deficit in the eighth inning? No problem. Winning championships is what Quebec does.

But winning a championship is not easy, no matter how simple and routine the Capitales make it appear. The Wild Things know how hard it is to win over a four-month season in the bus leagues. All those games and all those overnight trips take a toll on players.

Washington’s history of heartbreak rivals any organization in the league. Heck, any organization in professional baseball. Five times in their 22 seasons the Wild Things have made it to the finals. Three times they were one win away from that elusive first championship. Saturday night, they were one strike away – twice – from forcing a fifth game.

Unlucky? Jinxed? Cursed? In need of a rabbit’s foot? Maybe all of the above. Good luck trying to find a franchise that is more haunted, or driven, by its history.

Washington fought hard all season, winning a franchise-record 67 games during the regular season and its ninth division title. Yes, the Wild Things have figured out how to win the marathons. They just can’t win the sprints. Who would have thought it was easier to win 67 games during the regular season than it is to win five in the playoffs?

There were plenty of standout performances and memories created this summer. Center fielder Caleb McNeely won the Frontier League’s Most Valuable Player Award in his first full season of professional baseball. Tyreque Reed made a late-season charge and won the batting title by going 2-for-2 in the final game of the season. Rookie pitcher Gyeongju Kim, who was forced into the role of closer when Lukas Young suffered a season-ending injury, flourished on the job and was the league’s Relief Pitcher of the Year. There was an amazing ninth-inning comeback against Sussex County.

And Washington had an amazing 38-13 record in road games, spanning the entire year. In the end, they needed 40 wins.

What ultimately doomed the Wild Things in the postseason was one of their strengths during the regular season. Washington’s pitching staff had the lowest ERA and gave up the fewest walks in the league. The postseason started well as the pitchers eliminated Lake Erie in the division series with consecutive shutouts, and Kobe Foster pitched Washington to a win in Game 1 against Quebec.

Then, it all fell apart.

A rare bad start by a pitcher in Game 2 enabled Quebec to even the series. Then, over the next two games, both in Canada, the Wild Things lost a battle of the bullpens after building leads in the middle innings. Washington led 6-4 in the sixth inning of Game 3 and 6-1 in the eighth inning of Game 4 after a fabulous performance by starter Zach Kirby.

In the last two games of the series, Quebec’s relief pitchers tossed 11 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing only four hits and three walks. The Wild Things’ relievers threw 5 2/3 innings, allowing six hits, 10 runs, seven walks and three hit batsmen.

The Capitales took advantage of the numerous opportunities that were given to them.

What stings most is it will not get any easier for the Wild Things to win a championship in the near future. One expansion franchise has been awarded to Pearl, Miss., for next year and an 18th franchise is expected to be announced today. This is not the old eight-team Frontier League. It’s more difficult to beat 17 teams than seven. And almost impossible when you’re a franchise that seems to be jinxed.

Of course, as long as Quebec is in the league, there’s really only one team to beat.

Sports editor Chris Dugan can be reached at dugan@observer-reporter.com

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