WASHINGTON, PA – The Washington Wild Things (33-19), presented by Washington Federal Savings Bank, defeated the Chillicothe Paints (23-30) 5-4 in dramatic fashion Thursday. After a three run eighth inning to tie the game, a walk off home run by Kyle Padgett gave Washington its 33rd victory of the year.

The Paints got off to a quick start. Lead off man Gavin Ng was able to reach on a bunt to start the game. Washington starter, Aaron Ledbetter (7-0), hit shortstop Travis Garcia to put runners on first and third with only one out. Third baseman Adrian Cantu was able to bring them both home with a two-out double to right field. The Wild Things would find themselves down 2-0 at the end of the inning.

Washington was able to cut into Chillicothe’s lead in the home half of the first inning. Right fielder Rob Vernon was able to reach base on an error. Shortstop Kyle Padgett brought him home with an RBI base hit to make the score 2-1.

Chillicothe was back at it in the top of the fourth inning. Catcher Dan Cummins stepped in to lead off the inning. He took a pitch from Ledbetter deep to left field for a lead off solo home run. It was Cummins’ third home run of the season and put the Paints back up by two.

The runs kept coming from the Paints. After a walk and a double, second baseman Paul Rutgers came on. He hit a sacrifice fly to right field to bring home Cantu. The hit ended Ledbetter’s night as he was relieved by Justin Mattison (3-1) who was able to get out of the inning without letting any more runs score.

The Wild Things were finally able to get something going in the bottom of the eighth. Centerfielder Chris Sidick, designated hitter Jarod Rine and first baseman Nathan Messner were all able to get on base to begin the inning, loading the bases with no one out. With the sold out crowd of 3,366 chanting his name, third baseman Robbie Knapp came through with a RBI infield single, scoring Sidick. The hit ended reliever Ryan Flanigan’s night.

Matt Sutton stepped up to plate with the same situation. He drilled a ground ball to second base, bringing home Rine and shrinking Chillicothe’s lead to just one. With one out and runners on the corners, pinch hitter Mario Garza came to bat. Garza was hit by the pitch to load the bases for Pat O’Brien. O’Brien displayed some clutch hitting with a sacrifice fly to right field to bring home the tying run. With a three run inning, the Wild Things erased the deficit and moved the score to 4-4.

Reliever Ryan Davis was able to keep Chillicothe down in the top of the ninth, allowing only one hit and striking out one to end the inning.

It was up to Washington’s bats to bring home the victory. Lead off man Padgett certainly was up to the challenge. With a 2-2 count, Padgett drilled a bomb to left field and ended the game with a walk off home run. It was Padgett’s sixth of the year and enough to give the Wild Things the victory.

The Wild Things take on Chillicothe again tomorrow at CONSOL Energy Park for game two of their two game series with the Paints. For tickets, call the Wild Things box office at 724-250-9555.