Wild Things hit 3 more home runs but lose series opener
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – A Pittsburgh native and former standout player in the WPIAL haunted the Wild Things Tuesday night.
Mark Black, who was the WPIAL Class A Player of the Year during his scholastic days at Serra Catholic, was a triple shy of hitting for the cycle and sparked Evansville to an 8-4 win over the Wild Things in a series opener at Bosse Field.
Washington fell behind 8-0 in the third inning and tried to come back by hitting three home runs, but each of those were the solo variety.
Black hit a two-run homer in the second inning off Washington starter Zander Sechrist (0-1) and added an RBI double in the third that gave the Otters a 4-0 lead. Jon Ponder’s two-run homer made it 8-0.
Washington’s Jeff Liquori hit his fourth home run of the season on the second pitch of the fourth inning. Anthony Brocato made it back-to-back home runs.
Cole Fowler hit a leadoff home run in the fifth, and Fowler had an RBI groundout that pulledWashington (2-3) to within 8-4. The comeback ended there as Evansville’s bullpen retired 13 consecutive Washington batters late in the game.
The Wild Things and Otters will play a doubleheader Wednesday with the first game starting at 6:05 p.m.