Wild Things Swipe Series Victory Against Crushers at Home
WASHINGTON, Pa. (July 25) – The Washington Wild Things took the series against the Lake Erie Crushers 4-2 on Thursday Night at Wild Things Park. The Things were led by a four-hit performance from Tyreque Reed, as well as two extra-base hits from Wagner Lagrange and strong pitching outings from Dariel Fregio and three bullpen pitchers.
In the top of the second inning, the Crushers got on the scoreboard first after a solo shot over the center field fence. After being held scoreless over the first three innings, the Wild Things got the power swing working in the fourth inning. With one out, Lagrange lined a home run over the left field wall for his sixth long ball of the season and first since his activation from the IL on Tuesday.
The Crushers led off the top of the sixth inning with a lead-off triple and a wild pitch to take the lead 2-1. The Wild Things immediately responded in the bottom half of the inning as Caleb McNeely hit a leadoff single. A triple into the right-center field gap from Tommy Caufield tied the game once again before Lagrange continued his hot ways with an RBI double to give Washington its first lead at 3-2. A single from Reed gave the Wild Things runners on the corners and forced the Crushers to pull their starting pitcher with nobody out. After back-to-back strikeouts, Brandon McIlwain hit a double to left field to score another run. At the end of the sixth, the score read 4-2 in favor of the Wild Things.
Once again, Lake Erie began a rally at the top of the seventh as Dariel Fregio attempted to finish seven innings for the third time this season and second in as many starts. However, Fregio allowed two singles and a walk while recording only one out before Christian James replaced him with the bases loaded and a two-run lead. James came into the situation to face the Crushers number nine hitter, Sam Franco. James was the disaster artist in the James-Franco matchup as he forced a strikeout for out number two. Jarrod Watkins was the final hope in the inning for Lake Erie but he also fell victim to a strikeout as the Crushers stranded the bases loaded.
In all, Fregio worked through 6.1 innings and allowed five hits, two earned runs, two walks and struck out three Crushers. Thanks to James’ strong pitching to finish the seventh, Fregio left the game in line for his seventh win of the season.
Alex Carrillo worked a scoreless eighth with a pair of punchouts before Gyeongju Kim entered the game in the top of the ninth for Washington to face the Lake Erie six, seven and eight hitters. In all, Kim allowed a single and a walk but struck out two Crushers before a routine fly out from Jarrod Watkins ended the game with a 4-2 victory and a series victory for Washington. Kim once again tied the Frontier League lead with his 16th save of the season.
With a 4-for-4 game at the plate, Tyreque Reed improved to 27-55 for a .491 average since being activated from the IL on July 4th. In that time, Reed has five home runs and has increased his season batting average to .364 in 31 games. The four-hit performance was his second such performance of the season and his 12th multi-hit game. It’s the fifth time Reed has accumulated four hits in a game as a pro.
The Wild Things remain at home as they begin a three-game series with the New York Boulders. Game one begins Friday at 7:05 p.m. as there will be postgame fireworks thanks to Washington Spine Disc and Joint Center. The game is also Canonsburg Community Night presented by Matt Moser State Farm.
