Washington Avoids Sweep Behind Two Solo Shots and Dominant Start on the Mound

WASHINGTON, Pa. (May 24) - Solo shots from right fielder Hector Roa and shortstop Justin Bohn, along with strong pitching by starter Thomas Dorminy and relievers Sam Mersing and Zach Strecker led the way as the Wild Things (6-6) avoided the sweep in a three-game series against the Southern Illinois Miners Thursday with a 2-1 win.

After a scoreless first inning, Southern Illinois (6-6) drew first blood in the top of the second. After catcher Chance Shepard got to second base on a throwing error by Washington third baseman Mike Hill, first baseman Joe Dudek—who had two of the Miners' three hits on the night—drove Shepard in with a single to center field.

Washington answered in the bottom half, however, when with one out and nobody on base, Roa's first home run of the season tied the game at one. The Wild Things took the lead in the third, with Bohn's solo shot. It was Bohn's first hit of the campaign, after he spent the first nine games on the disabled list, and went 0-for-5 in Wednesday's doubleheader.

Dorminy (2-1) picked up the win, allowing one unearned run over seven innings on three hits, and two walks. The southpaw struck out three. The Wild Things' bullpen was able to hold the Miners' offense in check over the next two innings. In the eighth, it took Sam Mersing just 10 pitches to retire Southern Illinois in order. In the ninth, it took Zach Strecker 12 pitches to do the same, as he picked up his fourth save of the year.

For the Miners, Geno Encina (0-2) took the loss despite seven strong innings in which he allowed just two runs on three hits while walking one and striking out a career-high seven batters.

The Wild Things will continue their six-game homestand with a three-game set against the Florence Freedom that begins tomorrow night at 7:05. It's the first Fireworks Friday of the 2018 season, as Washington looks to avenge the 2017 playoff series loss at the hands of the Freedom. Frank Trimarco will take the hill for the Wild Things in the series opener.

Box Score: http://frontier.bbstats.pointstreak.com/boxscore.html?gameid=443909

AROUND THE LEAGUE:

Evansville Otters 6 def. Windy City ThunderBolts 2

CRESTWOOD, Il.- Evansville evenly split six runs between the fourth and eighth innings in its 6-2 win over Windy City. The ThunderBolts took an early 2-0 lead after three innings thanks to two RBI from left fielder David Oppenheim in the first and third innings. Oppenheim launched a solo homer in the first and brought in right fielder Darius Day on an RBI groundout to second base in the third. Windy City’s offense went cold in the rest of the contest as it only produced one hit and couldn’t plate a run. Evansville’s offense produced consistently in the matchup. The Otters left three men on in the first without a run but plated three runs in the third after loading the bases on two hit by pitches. The runs were scored on a Manny Cruz sacrifice fly, a Ryan Long RBI single and a Zach Welz RBI double. Only one hit was recorded innings five through seven before the Evansville three-run eighth. The runs in the eighth were scored on a Jeff Gardner bases-loaded walk and a Travis Harrison two-run single. Evansville (7-5) will make the trip to Traverse City for a Friday night contest while Windy City (6-5) travels to Normal.

River City Rascals 4 def. Schaumburg Boomers 2

O’FALLON, Mo.- River City utilized a two-run eighth inning to break its tie against Schaumburg and win 4-2. River City and Schaumburg both scored in just two innings in the contest with the Rascals scoring in the second and eighth innings and the Boomers scoring in the fourth and fifth innings. River City’s runs in the bottom of the second came from right fielder Gerrion Grim’s 2-run homer that also scored first baseman Clint Freeman. Schaumburg’s scoring came from a Kenny Towns solo home run in the fourth and Nick Oddo score from a double play in the fifth. The final two Rascals' runs in the eighth came courtesy of RBI singles from Grim and Kevin Suarez. River City (8-3) will kick off a three-game series against Lake Erie at home on Friday while Schaumburg (3-9) will host Gateway for a three-game set.

Normal CornBelters 3 def. Joliet Slammers 1

NORMAL, Il.- Normal notched its fourth victory of 2018 by defeating Joliet at The Corn Crib 3-1. Joliet out hit Normal 7-6 but was only able to muster one run in the matchup. The run came in the top of the fourth inning when third baseman Danny Zardon launched a solo home run, his second of the season. The CornBelters scored a run in both the fourth and fifth innings from a Chris Iriat sacrifice fly and a Nick Cain RBI single. Michael Centeno’s sacrifice fly in the seventh added the final insurance run in the Normal win. The CornBelters (4-8) will host Windy City for a three-game series while Joliet (4-8) will host Southern Illinois.

Lake Erie Crushers 1 def. Gateway Grizzlies 0

SAUGET, Il.- Lake Erie’s pitching staff held the Gateway offense to just two hits in its 1-0-win Thursday. Crushers starting pitcher Alex Romero threw seven complete innings, allowed just one hit, struck out seven and walked two. Lake Erie’s lone run in its win came in the top of the fourth inning when right fielder Dalton Wheat drove in Sean Hurley on a fielder’s choice. Lake Erie (8-4) will travel to play River City while Gateway (6-6) will travel to Schaumburg.

Traverse City Beach Bums 4 def. Florence Freedom 3 - F/11 

TRAVERSE CITY, Mi.- Donald Glover Jr slapped an RBI single down the right field line in the 11th inning to propel his Beach Bums to victory 4-3 over Florence in extra innings. Florence scored three runs in the first inning but couldn’t muster any offense after that. Traverse City scored runs in the second, third and eighth innings to tie up the game at three before the Glover walk-off single in the 11th. Traverse City collected 14 hits in the game and was led by Steve Lohr who had a double, two singles, and an RBI. Will Kengor and Isaac Bernard evenly divided four hits while Kengor added two RBI for the Beach Bums. Evansville was led by Nick Crouse who had a 2-RBI single and Xavier Turner who added two hits and scored a run. Traverse City (5-7) will host Evansville while Florence will head to Washington.