Midwest Finals - Game 1 Primer
EVANSVILLE, In. (Sept 15) – The Washington Wild Things continue their quest for a Frontier League title into the Midwest Conference Finals starting tonight in Evansville at historic Bosse Field. The Central Division champs got around some eighth-inning woes on the mound at home in the Wild Card series, taking Game 1 and then Game 3 by a walkoff single by Cole Fowler to advance. The Otters are here seeking a return trip to the Frontier League Championship Series for the first time since 2023, when they lost to
The teams, who were one and two in the Central Division and in the conference by record during the regular season, will play a best-of-five series with game one at 7:35/6:35 p.m. CDT tonight. Game 2 is at the same time tomorrow, Wednesday, September 16. The series shifts to Washington Friday, September 18 through Sunday, September 20 with Games 4 and 5 Saturday and Sunday if necessary.
Evansville was paced in the Wild Card round by Amani Jones, newcomer Zac Vooletich (who replaced Marcos Gonzalez after he was placed on the 14-Day, season-ending IL just after the regular season ended) and Logan Brown, who all had four hits and combined for six RBI. Dennis Pierce and Sam Linscott both homered as well. Colby Morse was the best starter for the Otters in the series, going five innings and allowing a run. As a staff, Evansville held Schaumburg to six runs in the three games.
Washington was led by Jeff Liquori offensively in the Wild Card round, along with Andrew Czech and Connor Peek. The three combined for 17 hits and 11 RBI (seven and eight of which came from Liquori). The bullpen struggled a bit but the starters turned in admirable work with a quality start being achieved in two of three games. The third fell short by an out (Game 3, Kelvin Perez, 5.2 IP, 3 ER).
The two split the regular-season series with six wins each. Both teams took one series on the road. Washington captured the latest meeting behind seven scoreless frames from Drew Stegura August 20, after the Things had dropped the first two of the series, part of the mid-August funk the team spiraled into.
Tonight, Evansville will turn the ball over to Ryan Wiltse, who made 20 appearances during the regular season (19 were starts) and in 97.2 innings, fanned 75 against 39 walks. He faced Washington May 14 and in four shutout innings, allowed three hits and a walk with four strikeouts in a no decision. He faced the Things at Bosse Field again on June 30, a game Washington won 23-10. He was tagged for 11 this and 10 runs with three walks and three strikeouts. Only one homer was in that mix in 2.2 innings. He rebounded well in his next and final outing against the Wild Things during the regular season on August 9. In six innings, he didn’t yield a run on four hits with two walks and four strikeouts. He began his pro career in 2024 with Evansville. He also started Game 1 of the Wild Card Series against Schaumburg and surrendered three runs on three hits including two homers with two walks and five strikeouts, taking the loss in the 3-2 finish to the Boomers.
The Wild Things will go with righty Ben Kowalski, who allowed two inherited runners to cross but didn’t give up a run of his own in his two innings in Game 2 during the Wild Card round. It’ll be his playoff starting debut in the Frontier League. He had a 5.59 ERA in the regular season. He made four quality starts and was 1-2. The win came against Evansville in what was arguably his best start on August 8. Kowalski worked 6.1 scoreless with four hits and one walk with eight strikeouts.
EQT Park will host a watch party for tonight’s game, with free parking and admission. Gates open at 6:30 p.m. EDT. The event is rain or shine, with plans to move to the suites if weather becomes an issue. Food and beverage will be available.
Fans who aren’t signed up for a subscription to the Frontier League Network, powered by HTN, can save 20% on a monthly subscription to the service by using FLPLAYOFFS26 at checkout at www.frontierleaguetv.com. Tonight’s broadcast is also available on MixLR at https://www.bit.ly/wtmixlr.
Playoff tickets for the Midwest Finals are on sale now by clicking here and are $5 apiece. Washington will host Friday, September 18, Saturday, September 19 (if necessary) and Saturday, September, September 20 (if necessary), in the best of five against Evansville.
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.
