Washington Staves Off Schaumburg Comeback to Win Series Opener
SCHAUMBURG, Ill. – The Washington Wild Things (41-37) won the series opener tonight against the league-leading Schaumburg Boomers (55-24) by a score of 8-7, despite the bullpen struggling in the bottom of the eighth. Trevor Foss (10-4) started on the mound going seven innings of strong baseball, finishing with a final line of eight hits, four earned runs and five strikeouts.
The Wild Things got the bats going quickly as the first three batters reached base to start the top of the second. Catcher Kyle Pollock led off the inning with a double to left field, and then was moved to third on a single from third baseman Kenny Peoples-Walls. Shortstop Mike Hill then singled in Pollock, giving Washington the first run of the game. Two batters later, designated hitter James Harris plated Peoples-Walls, pushing the lead to two.
In the top of the third inning, Pollock added to his successful day as he hit his eight homer of the season, this time in the form of a two-run shot to put the Wild things up by four. The Boomers saw themselves get on the board for the first time in the bottom of the inning, as they scored two runs highlighted by a sacrifice fly from left fielder Kyle Ruchim and an RBI double from shortstop Josh Gardiner, reducing to the deficit to two.
Washington started to pull away in the top of the seventh as they scored four runs. Centerfielder Rashad Brown scored the first run as he beat out a close fielder’s choice throw to the plate. Then after a walk to Pollock, the bases were loaded for Peoples-Walls who proceeded to unload them with a three-run double, pushing the score to 8-2 heading into the stretch.
Schaumburg’s comeback attempt came in the bottom of the eighth as they chased Foss from the game after he allowed the first two men to reach base. The Boomers eventually put up a five-spot in total. It started when Holland singled in a run, ending Frank Trimarco’s night after only one batter. Gardiner then plated two on a base-knock, and Andrew Brodbeck scored one more by way of a book-rule double. This took Davis Adkins out of the game as well, bringing in Zach Strecker, the fourth Wild Things pitcher of the inning. Strecker walked the first batter, and allowed an RBI single to the second man he faced, allowing the Boomers to come within one after trailing five runs coming into the inning. He was then able to get the final two outs of the inning with the bases loaded, keeping the lead at one in favor of the Wild Things heading into the final inning. Strecker bounced back in the final frame, getting his 18th save and starting out the series with a close win for Washington.
The Wild Things look to win the series tomorrow as they play an afternoon game, with first pitch slated for 2:00 p.m. EST.
