Washington Announces Field and Support Staff for 2026 Season
WASHINGTON, Pa. (April 20) – The Washington Wild Things have announced their 2026 field and support staff, headlined by sixth-year manager Tom Vaeth. He’ll be joined by two first-year assistants in pitching coach Josh Flowerman and first base coach Andy Fleischacker, third-year head athletic trainer Hailey Drollinger and first-year clubhouse manager John Merklin.
Vaeth enters his sixth season as the club’s skipper and with it his sixth season as a professional manager. The 10th manager in club history is the all-time leader in wins with the franchise and sits third of the 10 in career winning percentage with 286 wins and a .597 winning percentage. The 2022 Roger Hanners Award winner for Frontier League Manager of the Year has guided the franchise to four division titles in five seasons and two league championship series appearances.
Flowerman, announced as an addition to the staff in December to replace last year’s pitching coach Lukas Young, was an assistant pitching coach and analyst with the Tri-City ValleyCats in the Frontier League last season and pitching coach for the Frederick Keys (MLBD) in 2024. He has worked for FDU-Florham (NCAA Division III) since 2020.
Fleischacker, announced as the new first base coach in March, has been coaching baseball in some capacity since 1995 and was inducted into the Swiss Baseball and Softball Hall of Fame in 2025. Andy has coached at the national level in Switzerland and Ireland, for collegiate summer teams, high school programs and in several other levels of the game.
Drollinger enters her third season with the club after joining the organization prior to the 2024 season. She spent a season in 2022 with the White Sox organization and 2023 with the Astros organization. The 2026 season will be Hailey’s fifth in pro ball.
John Merklin joined the team in March after an expansive search for the team’s next head clubhouse manager and has been in Washington since the start of April. Last season, he was an assistant in the clubhouses for the Jersey Shore BlueClaws (A, PHI) near his hometown of Brick, New Jersey. He’s a graduate of Brick Memorial High School and Stockton University.
Dr. Donnie Ours II, DO will return as the primary team doctor. Ours works for UPMC Washington. The team chiropractor will once again be Dr. Anthony Dicesaro III, DC from Whitehall Health Centre. The Wild Things will also have clubhouse interns and a rotation of bat boys in 2026, to help on the support staff.
The 24th season of Wild Things baseball in the MLB-partnered Frontier League begins Friday, May 7 on the road and at home with the homer opener scheduled for Friday, May 15 against the Schaumburg Boomers at EQT Park. For updates, other information and more, visit washingtonwildthings.com or follow the team on social media at facebook.com/WashingtonWildThings or @WashWildThings on other platforms. Single game tickets are available now and the club’s promo schedule has been released. You can buy tickets here.
