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Caufield drives Wild Things to win

By Chris Dugan 4 min read
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Green lights on 3-0 counts in the late innings of a one-run game – during a playoff race no less – don’t come around very often.

The Wild Things’ Tommy Caufield got one Friday night and he didn’t miss the sign.

Caufield laced a 3-0 pitch from Lake Erie reliever Leo Rodriguez down the right-field line for a two-out go-ahead double, capping a three-run seventh inning and propelling Washington to a much-needed 8-3 victory at EQT Park.

Caufield stepped to the plate with Lake Erie leading 3-2 and two outs in the seventh. The Crushers had just removed Frontier League ERA leader Dylan Spain and replaced him on the mound with the towering 6-7 Rodriguez.

With pinch-runner Kyle Edwards on second base and Ben Watson at first, Caufield jumped ahead 3-0 in the count against the hard-throwing Rodriguez.

Caufield took a glance at Wild Things manager Tom Vaeth, who was in the third-base coach’s box. Vaeth wasn’t about to flash Caufield a take sign.

“If Tommy takes a strike there, then you’re limiting him to two swings in which to drive in a run,” Vaeth explained. “You might as well let him swing on 3-0. Tommy is a very smart ballplayer. He’s earned my trust. Guys who have earned my trust know what to do with the pitch.”

Caufield, Washington’s lefty hitting third baseman, turned on a Rodriguez 3-0 pitch and lined it down the right-field line, all the way to the wall. Edwards scored easily to tie the game. When Lake Erie right fielder Sam Franco had some trouble digging the ball off the wall, it gave Watson, who never slowed down, the opportunity to race home with the go-ahead run.

Lake Erie then unraveled defensively in the bottom of the eighth when Washington tacked on four runs, including two on a Caufield single.

Caufield finished the night 3-for-5 with four RBI.

“I had to look down at Tom to see if he was giving me the green light,” Caufield said of his seventh-inning hit. “The pitcher was having trouble finding the strike zone, so I knew it was going to be dead red. I was ready for a fastball.”

Washington snapped Lake Erie’s seven-game winning streak and pulled within two games of the Central-Division-leading Crushers. Last month, Lake Erie swept a series in Washington, shutting out the Wild Things in two of those games. With that in mind, this game meant a little more to Washington, which couldn’t afford to let the Crushers win another at EQT Park and move more than an arm’s length ahead in the standings.

“I think it is a big win for our ballclub,” Vaeth said. “We had dropped four in a row to them, two by shutout. We had to prove to ourselves that we were competing with those guys. It was good to see the guys show fight.”

Lex Meinderts (1-0), a rookie from LSU-Shreveport, faced only two batters but was credited with the win in relief. Joe Nahas finished with two hitless innings for his first save. He struck out three.

Washington starter Jordan DiValerio was spectacular over 6 2/3 innings but settled for a no-decision.

DiValerio retired the first 13 Lake Erie hitters before walking Jaidan Quinn on four pitches with one out in the fifth. A double play grounder off the bat of the next batter, Derek Vegas, ended that inning.

Lake Erie didn’t get a hit until there was one out in the sixth, and it surely wasn’t DiValerio’s fault. Franco hit a high fly ball into shallow left centerfield that should have been caught by Washington’s shortstop, left fielder or center fielder, each of whom converged on the ball. However, they let the ball drop between them for a gift double.

“Their first hit, that ball should have been caught,” Vaeth confirmed.

The play seemed to get DiValerio out of rhythm as Kenen Irizarry followed with an RBI single. A single by Dario Gomez scored Irizarry and gave the Crushers a 2-1 lead.

An Irizarry RBI single in the seventh made it 3-1.

In the bottom of the seventh, Tyreque Reed and Jeff Liquori hit consecutive doubles off Frontier League ERA leader Dylan Spain (6-3) to pull Washington to within 3-2.

Cade Fowler, who hit his first home run as a professional in the third inning, sacrificed Liquori to third, but Liquori was thrown out at home plate trying to score on a grounder hit by Wilder.

A single by Watson set up Caufield’s go-ahead double.

“We’re at the point in the season where we’re trying to win two out of three – treat it like it’s playoff ball,” Caufield said.

“There was a lot of good stuff tonight,” Vaeth added.

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