Sign of the times
Wild Things clinch a division three-peat
There are more than 50 signs attached to the outfield walls at EQT Park. At least one of them will have to be updated for next season.
Located along the top tier of advertising, in the left-field corner, is the sign that shows the years the Wild Things won Frontier League division titles. The year 2026 will have to be added.
Anthony Brocato had four hits and tied the Frontier League single-season record with his 36th home run, Kenten Egbert took a no-hitter into the seventh inning and Washington clinched its third consecutive division title and 11th overall with a 10-5 thumping of Gateway on Wednesday night.
Brocato gave Washington (65-33) a lead it would not relinquish when he drove a pitch from Gateway starter Jake Bockenstedt (0-2) off the scoreboard for a two-run homer in the bottom of the first inning. It scored Miles Simington, who hit a book-rule double to start the inning.
It was the 36th home run of the season for Brocato, tying the league record set by Morgan Burkhart in 1998. Burkhart was the first position player to go from the Frontier League to the major leagues. The Frontier League MVP award is named after Burkhart.
Brocato has 124 career home runs in the Frontier League, three shy of the league record.
Washington hit two home runs in three innings off Bockenstedt, who lasted only three innings. Caleb Ketchup hit his 15th of the season, a two-run shot in the third that made it 7-0.
After Brocato’s first-inning homer, Andrew Czech doubled and scored on a single by Connor Peek. The Wild Things scored three times in the second inning, getting a sacrifice fly by Kyle Edwards and an RBI single by Brocato.
Brocato drove in his third run with a single in the fourth off reliever Claudio Galva, and the Wild Things reached double-figure scoring for the 19th time with three runs in the sixth on three singles and two-base throwing error, making the score 10-0.
Gateway broke up Egbert’s no-hit bid in the seventh when Bryson Horne hit a solo homer to right field. Egbert (2-2) exited one batter later, after striking out Dale Thomas. He finished the game with one walk and six strikeouts.
It was quite the one-week turnaround for Egbert, who in his start last week, at Gateway, gave up 14 hits and 12 runs in only three innings during a 16-12 loss.
Reliever Michael Foltz Jr. replaced Egbert and yielded a grand slam in the seventh to Kyle Ratliff, who was 0-for-17 in his professional career, cutting Washington’s lead in half to 10-5.
Washington relievers Eldridge Armstrong and Landon Ginn finished the game, each throwing a scoreless inning.
Extra bases
The Wild Things are guaranteed the top seed in the Midwest Conference and will open the wild-card round of the playoffs at the No. 4 seed on Sept. 9. Games 2 and 3 of the best-of-3 series will be played in Washington Sept. 11 and 12. … Brocato went 4-for-5. He is 12-for-24 in his last five games against Gateway. … The Wild Things clinched both a playoff spot and the division title this year when playing Gateway. … The Wild Things finished with 17 hits to Gateway’s three.