Midwest Finals Primer - Game 3
WASHINGTON, Pa. (Sept 18) – The Midwest Finals have made their shift to Washington, Pennsylvania, for Game 3, slated for tonight at 7:05 p.m. at EQT Park. The Wild Things come home facing elimination having lost both games at Bosse Field this week, dropping Wednesday’s most recent contest 12-3, behind 17 Evansville hits.
The Wild Things must win the next three games, starting tonight, to advance to the Frontier League Championship Series. Washington will send rookie righty Drew Stegura to the mound tonight to try and right the ship for a team that is a minus-5 in the postseason after being nearly +200 in the regular season. The staff really struggled at Bosse Field, allowing 17 hits in the loss Wednesday in Game 2 after 14 runs (10 earned) in the loss in Game 1.
Stegura was 3-0 during the regular season in seven games, six of which were starts. He allowed 18 runs (17 earned) on 36 hits in 34 innings with 24 strikeouts against nine walks. His best start came against the Otters in the middle of August. With Washington facing a sweep that night on August 20, Stegura turned in seven innings of shutout ball and scattered five hits with a walk and nine strikeouts before giving way to Mack Anglin and Landon Ginn, who combined to finish the shutout of the Otters. It’s Stegura’s playoff debut.
They’ll face a fresh face in Colby Morse, who the Wild Things did not see during the regular season. Morse allowed one run in his start against Schaumburg in the Wild Card round in five innings of work. This will be the second playoff start for the ex-Indiana State standout. Morse was 6-0 during the regular season and had a 2.81 ERA in 51.1 innings. He walked 25 and struck out 27 while scattering 47 hits. Morse features a five-pitch mix that is somewhat fastball-dominant (50.9% of tagged pitches). The fastball will average between 88-91 mph while he will use a cutter that is a bit off that roughly 16% of the time. He throws a slider, a changeup and a curveball as well though the back two there combine for just 13% of his pitch usage. He’s induced a good bit of contact that isn’t tagged as “hard” (95 mph or better exit velocity) as only 31 pitches have been hit 95 or harder off him (20 are the FB).
If Washington can find a way to stay alive tonight, Game 4 is slated for tomorrow, Saturday, September 19 at 7:05 p.m.
EQT Park opens at 6 p.m. for tonight’s game. First pitch is slated for 7:05 p.m.
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.
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.
