Jun 5, 2026 By Chris Dugan 4 min read

The Wild Things have experienced tremendous success in recent years finding pitchers from small colleges – primarily NCAA Division II and NAIA schools – who have been overlooked by major league scouts, for whatever reasons, and turning them into standouts in the Frontier League.

First there was lefty Kobe Foster, who in 2022 helped Tennessee Wesleyan to 56 wins and a spot in the NAIA World Series. Today, he is the winningest pitcher in Wild Things history. In 2023, Washington signed Dariel Fregio out of Division II St. Leo in Florida. He’s now pitching in the Detroit Tigers farm system at Class AA Erie. Last year, Brent Francisco was signed out of Division II East Stroudsburg, and after making only three appearances with the Wild Things he was picked up by the Minnesota Twins.

Also on last year’s team was Andrew Herbert, who was signed out of Rinehardt, an NAIA school in Georgia. Herbert was Washington’s closer last year but this season was converted back to a starter. He had his contract purchased by the Baltimore Orioles organization last month.

The latest diamond in the rough that has come to Washington is Maddox Long, a 6-5 265-pound righthander from Morillton, Ark. He pitched the last four years for Division II Harding University in Searcy, Ark. The school is better known for its football – the Bisons have been in the Division II championship game two times in the last three years – than for its baseball.

Long, however, put up video game-like numbers at Harding. From 2023 to 2025, he had a 24-8 record including an 11-3 mark in 2025, when he struck out 122 batters and walked only 28.

So far with Washington, Long has a 1-1 record and 1.61 ERA in four starts. He got his first professional win May 28 at Schaumburg, when he allowed three hits and one run over eight innings. In his latest start, Thursday night against Gateway, Long allowed one run over seven innings in Washington’s 3-2 loss in 10 innings.

The Wild Things’ game Friday night against Florence ended too late to be included in this edition.

Long said he had hoped to be drafted last summer after his strong senior season at Harding but wasn’t surprised when he was bypassed.

“I thought I had a chance, a slim chance,” he said. “With my age, I was probably looking at a post-draft signing.”

Long is 25 years old, which made him too old for many MLB teams to use a draft pick on. He played six years of college baseball. The first was the 2020 season that was cut short because of the pandemic. He gained an extra year of eligibility for 2020.

In 2021, Long played at a junior college. But because not all JC schools played in 2021, he was given another year of eligibility.

At Harding, his career took off.

“Last year, not getting drafted was more a mix of my age and (velocity),” Long said. “I was probably 88 to 92 mph. This past offseason, I lost 30 pounds and got my velo up to 91-92 and touching 95. The velo is in a lot better place today.”

Washington manager Tom Vaeth attempted to bring in Long late last season.

“We tried to get him last year after the draft. It was a typical situation. He was upset that he didn’t get drafted,” Vaeth said. “We stayed on him. He was a horse for them in school and he always threw a lot in summer ball.”

“I heard from a bunch of independent teams. I liked the opportunity here,” Long said. “First of all, they win. This is a place where if I put up good numbers, they’ll help me get to the next level. While I’m here, I can try to win some ballgames.”

Long said one reason he didn’t sign with the Wild Things last season was his arm was fatigued after pitching Harding to the Division II regionals and then throwing a few games in the Northwood League, which is a college summer league.

“Tom reached out to me but I had 150 innings on my arm and I was tired,” Long explained. “I was ready to get back into training, so I thought it was in my best interest to shut it down and get ready for this season.”