Wild Things Walk Off to End Long Homestand
WASHINGTON, Pa. (June 28) – The Washington Wild Things earned a hard fought 10-9 victory over the Joliet Slammers on Sunday evening to earn a split of the four-game series against Joliet, and a split of the eight game, week-long homestand at EQT Park, outlasting the Slammers with a walk-off single by Antonio Monroy.
Washington wasted no time getting on the board, using a two-run blast by Anthony Brocato to take a 2-0 lead in the first inning. Brocato's home run was his 101st in the Frontier League, moving him into sole possession of second place on the Frontier League's all-time home run list.
Joliet responded with three runs in the second inning on just one hit. The three walks issued by Washington starter Michael O’Hanlon all came around to score for Joliet during the frame. In the third, the Slammers tacked on two more runs with the help of three base hits and a sacrifice fly to stretch the lead to three. They scored a pair in the fifth inning as well when Brandon Heidal roped a one-out double to make the score 7-2 in favor of Joliet.
In the home half of the fifth inning, Brocato hit another two-run home run, his 14th long ball of the season, a total that now leads the league. Three batters later Caleb Ketchup launched a two-run shot to left field, cutting the deficit to just one, and chasing Joliet starting pitcher Eric Turner. The first batter Greyson Linderman faced out of the Slammers’ bullpen was Cole Fowler, who hit Washington’s third home run of the inning to tie up the ball game at seven all. The Wild Things scored one more run in the fifth on a wild pitch to grab an 8-7 lead.
The back-to-back home runs by Ketchup and Fowler marked the fifth time this year that two Wild Things homered in consecutive plate appearances. The only other time this year that Washington hit three home runs in an inning occurred on May 13 against Evansville.
In the sixth each team scored once, allowing Washington to keep its one run lead after six complete innings of play. Cam Suto led off the eighth for Joliet and homered on the first pitch he saw to tie the game at nine.
After a scoreless top of the ninth inning by Wild Things southpaw Michael Foltz Jr., Washington was able to score the game-winning run on a walk-off base hit by Antonio Monroy. It was the first walk-off win for Washington this year. Foltz Jr. earned the win for Washington and moved to 2-0 on the year.
Washington will begin a nine-game road trip on Tuesday against the Evansville Otters, who the Wild Things currently hold a two-game lead on in the Central Division standings.
The 24th season of Wild Things baseball in the MLB-partnered Frontier League is underway with more great baseball and entertainment to come. 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.
Go Wild at washingtonwildthings.com.
