May 13, 2026 3 min read

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Anthony Brocato hit two of Washington’s five home runs and the Wild Things held off a late comeback by Evansville to beat the Otters 7-6 in the first game of a Frontier League doubleheader Wednesday night at Bosse Field.

Washington hit two more home runs and completed a sweep of the twinbill with a 10-1 victory.

Washington led the opener 7-0 in the fifth inning before Evansville mounted a comeback and had the bases loaded with two outs in the bottom of the seventh when Washington reliever Landon Ginn entered and got a game-ending flyout.

Brocato hit a two-run homer in the second inning off Evansville starter Garret Simpson (0-1) and hit one of the Wild Things’ four solo homers in the game an inning later.

After Brocato’s first homer, Isaias Quiroz smacked his initial hit as a Wild Thing, an RBI double that scored Kyle Edwards to make it 3-0.

In the third, Graham Brown, who played for Evansville last year, and Andrew Czech hit back-to-back home runs and Brocato added his solo shot to push Washington’s lead to 6-0.

In the top of the fifth, Jeff Liquori hit his fifth homer of the season, making it a 7-0 game.

Evansville didn’t get a hit off Washington starter Zach Kirby (1-0) until the fifth inning when Marcos Gonzalez smacked a solo homer. The Otters finished the game with 14 hits.

Evansville added another run in the fifth, and a key play in the game ended the inning as Washington center fielder Caleb Ketchup threw out an Evansville baserunner at home plate.

Kirby went five-plus innings, allowing seven hits and four runs. He struck out four and did not issue a walk.

Washington led 7-4 entering the bottom of the seventh. A sacrifice fly and RBI single cut it to a one-run game and the Otters loaded the bases with two outs when Ginn was brought in. He earned his first save.

Brown and Brocato each had three-hit games.

In the nightcap, the Wild Things broke open a scoreless game by sending 13 batters to the plate and scoring nine runs in the top of the sixth inning.

Liquori hit an RBI double that scored Czech with the game’s first run. Brocato had an RBI single and Cole Fowler followed with a run-scoring double into the left-field corner. Edwards hit a sacrifice fly to make it 4-0, then Ryan Ford and Ketchup hit back-to-back home runs, both to right field, to make it a 7-0 game. Later in the inning, Liquori hit a two-run double.

Wild Things starter Maddox Long tossed four shutout innings in his pro debut. Hector Garcia (1-0) pitched the final three innings. Evansville broke up the shutout bid by scoring a run with two outs in the bottom of the seventh.

Washington is off Thursday and will play its home opener Friday (7:05 p.m.) against the Schaumburg Boomers.