May 19, 2026 By Chris Dugan 3 min read

Quiz time: How do you clear 3,211 school kids and teachers out of the seats in EQT Park in less than a minute?

Answer: Try an unexpected rainstorm that leaves everybody scurrying and waterlogged within seconds.

That’s what happened Tuesday morning during the fourth inning of the Wild Things’ kids day game against Florence.

The quick-hitting and unexpected rain had the kids running for cover and, eventually, their buses.

When play resumed following a 97-minute delay, the crowd was gone but not the Wild Things’ big lead. Washington led 6-0 before the delay and went on to a 12-3 victory.

It was the sixth consecutive win for Washington (8-3), which leads the Frontier League’s Central Division.

The Wild Things played double or nothing before the rain arrived and took advantage of a costly error by Florence in the second inning to score five runs. The only mystery during the rain delay was would Washington starting pitcher Zach Kirby return to the mound?

Kirby (2-0) did return and went six innings for the win.

“This was nothing new,” Washington manager Tom Vaeth said. “The players were even joking about it. It seemed like every time Kirby pitched last year it rained. He did a good job staying loose. All we needed from him is what we got – him going into the fifth and sixth.”

Kirby said returning to the game was never in doubt.

“I’ve gone through that before. It was nothing crazy,” he said. “I had a game against (Florence) last year like this, only that time it started raining before I threw my first pitch. I just had to stay loose and stay warm. That was the biggest thing.”

Washington hit three doubles in the big inning against Florence starter Jonaiker Villalobos (0-1). Jeff Liquori hit the first of his two doubles and Anthony Brocato reached on a throwing error that scored Liquori. After Hunter Stokely walked, Kyle Edwards hit an RBI book-rule double and Caleb Ketchup laced a two-run double to make it 4-0. Ketchup scored on a single by Cole Fowler.

Liquori’s second double drove in Czech, who walked, in the third, making it 6-0.

Washington increased the lead to 10-0 after play resumed in the fourth. Graham Brown had an RBI single and Andrew Czech clubbed his sixth home run of the season, a three-run shot to right field off reliever Eddie Kafta.

Fowler, who was 4-for-5, singled home Edwards in the fifth to make it 11-0.

Kirby returned following the rain delay and went six innings for the win. He scattered five hits and one walk with three strikeouts. Kirby retired the first two Florence hitters in each of the first five innings.

The Y’alls avoided the shutout when Jackson Tucker, a rookie out of St. John’s, hit a solo homer with two outs in the fifth inning. It was Tucker’s first professional homer.

Washington’s final run scored in the eighth on an RBI infield single by Ryan Ford.

Austin Eaton, Michael Foltz Jr. and Landon Ginn each tossed one inning in relief of Kirby.

Extra bases

Washington had 12 hits, including five doubles. … The Y’alls’ Dillon Baker hit a solo homer in the top of the ninth. … Florence manager and former major league catcher Toby Hall was the manager at Windy City last year. … The series resumes tonight at 6:05 p.m.