Humbug! Brockton wastes no time, doubles up Wild Things
The promotion Saturday night at EQT Park was called “Christmas in July.”
The Wild Things discovered a big chuck of coal in their stocking, courtesy of the Brockton Rox.
Brockton used two big innings to beat Washington, 14-7.
It was a five-pitch stretch and one very big inning, to be exact, but they were equally significant and damaging to Washington.
Brockton scored four runs in the second inning and needed only five pitches to do it after having one out and nobody on base.
Jack Thomas-Wold singled on the first pitch he saw from Washington starter Brit Kostura (1-2) and Evan Sleight hit the next pitch for another single.
Tommy Kretzler then fouled off the first pitch to him and smacked the second for a three-run homer.
Scott Seeker hit the next pitch for a 428-foot home run to center field, giving Brockton a quick 4-0 lead.
“They had a game plan when eight of the first nine hitters swing at the first pitch,” Washington manager Tom Vaeth said. “That’s the big story of the game. We were reactionary instead of being ahead of it.”
Brockton manager Jerod Edmondson said it wasn’t so much a plan to swing at the first pitch of an at-bat as it was one to be more aggressive.
“The last week or so, we faced some pitchers who we thought we should have handled better. We weren’t aggressive,” he explained. “So we said we want to be on time and get a pitch to hit if he gives us something good early.”
Washington cut the deficit in half by scoring twice in the fourth on an RBI groundout by Wagner Lagrange and a run-scoring single by Cole Fowler.
Washington’s chances for a comeback fizzled as it hit into three inning-ending double plays. In the sixth, the Wild Things loaded the bases with one out before Fowler lined into a double play on the first pitch from reliever Trevor Anibal.
“We had chances early in the game,” Vaeth said. “It wasn’t like those double plays were bad at-bats. We lined into a double play, Connor Peek hit a one-hopper to the shortstop. … It was one of those nights.”
Brockton took the momentum from getting out of the jam and scored seven runs in the top of the seventh for a commanding 11-2 lead. The inning included a three-run homer by Kretzler, his third home run of the series.
The big inning led to a big win for Brockton, which improved its record to 31-34. The Rox are in their third season in the Frontier League – they were known as the New England Knockouts in 2024 – and have never had a winning record after the second game of the year in any of those seasons.
Getting to .500 would be a big accomplishment for the Rox, but Edmondson is looking at something bigger. Brockton is 5 1/2 games out of the final wild-card spot in the Atlantic Conference.
“We feel like we’re in the playoff race right now,” Edmondson said. “It’s going to come down to us being consistent. Being .500 is not a number we’re looking at. We’re trying to get to the playoffs.”
Brockton scored three insurance runs in the top of the ninth inning, and the Wild Things scored five times in the bottom of the frame, which included a three-run homer by Ryan Ford.
It was the Wild Things’ first loss of the season to a team from the Atlantic Conference. They are 7-1.
Winning pitcher Zach Eldred (4-4) allowed five hits and two runs over 5⅓ innings.