Foster Dominates On Fourth, Wild Things Take Series Over Y'alls
WASHINGTON, Pa. (July 4) - The Washington Wild Things took the series finale against the Florence Y’alls in a 1-0 decision on Thursday night. Fans celebrated the Fourth of July with America’s pastime capped by a special fireworks show at Wild Things Park. Kobe Foster’s 11 strikeout gem fueled the Wild Things to the series victory.
Washington got off to a hot start with Foster leading the way. The lefty retired the first nine batters he faced, fanning four of them, through three innings. The Wild Things’ offense got on the board in the bottom of the second. With two outs, Brandon McIlwain singled to right field. Evan Berkey sent a laser to left field to bring him home with an RBI double.
In the bottom of the third, Carson Clowers smoked a lead-off triple to right center field that hit the fence off one bounce. Y’alls pitcher Reed Smith was not fazed by this, as he worked a strikeout, a much-needed fielder's choice at home, then finally a fly out to right field to maintain the 1-0 score in favor of Washington.
Despite allowing his first hit of the night in the top of the fourth inning, Foster would continue to dominate. He picked off the runner on first base, then struck out the next two batters for his fifth and sixth strikeouts of the game. Foster added two more in the fifth and one in the sixth to keep Florence scoreless through the first two-thirds of the night. In the seventh, Foster punched out two more to set a new career high of 11 strikeouts. Foster finished his stellar outing with 11 strikeouts in seven shutout innings of work, allowing just three hits and one walk. The quality start was his seventh of the year and his first win since June 9 against the Joliet Slammers.
Alex Carrillo took the bump for Washington in the eighth inning. It was a bumpy start as he gave up a base hit to Ed Johnson; he then stole second. Carillo then hit the next batter, Zade Richardson, to set up first and second with no outs. After a mound visit, the Wild Things turned a double play on a ground ball that went to the second baseman Berkey, who then turned to shortstop Carson Clowers, who successfully threw it to first baseman Andrew Czech. With two outs and a man on third, Carillo struck out the final batter of the inning to get out of trouble. Gyeongju Kim entered in the ninth to close out the victory for Washington. Kim retired the side with a strikeout en route to his 12th save of the season.
Despite the lack of scoring, there were some notable offensive performances for the Wild Things from the likes of Tommy Caufield and Berkey. Caufield went 2-for-4 with two singles and two stolen bases. Berkey had the only RBI coming in the second inning with a double that scored Brandon McIlwain, leading to the 1-0 win.
The Wild Things continue their homestand tomorrow night against the Windy City ThunderBolts. It is Fireworks Friday and Wheeling Community Night presented by Sport Your Colors at Wild Things Park. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.
