May 9, 2013 4 min read

The old-school folks in baseball used to have only one rule for hitters: Don’t play softball.

The thinking was that playing slow-pitch softball will throw off a hitter’s timing and cause him to develop a bad swing.

“That’s true,” says Wild Things second baseman Shain Stoner. ‘It will hurt your swing. In softball, you have a totally different swing than the one you use in baseball. In softball, you swing down on the pitch and hit everything off your front foot. You do that, and the ball takes off.”

Stoner should know. He spent the last five months playing professional softball for O.C. Swat, a team based out of Orange County, Calif. He played about 60 softball games and continued up until a week before arriving in Washington for spring training.

“The first day here, I really noticed how playing softball had hurt my swing,” Stoner said. “But when I wasn’t playing softball, I was at my local high school working on my baseball swing. I’ve been playing baseball so long that my swing hasn’t left me.”

It didn’t take Stoner long to get his baseball swing back. Stoner went 3-for-5 with two doubles, a triple and four RBI Thursday night in the Wild Things’ 11-6 victory over Lake Erie in the exhibition opener at Consol Energy Park.

Stoner even had a stellar defensive play, going behind second base to snag a grounder and making a strong throw to retire T.J. McManus and end the fifth inning.

“Stoner had career day in one night,” Washington manager Bart Zeller said. “He made some great defensive plays and hit the ball hard. It was the kind of night you wish for in baseball.”

Stoner wasn’t the only Washington player with a big game at the plate. Designated hitter Rick Devereaux was 3-for-5, starting catcher Jim Vahalik was 2-for-2 with a double and two RBI, and backup catcher Maxx Garrett was 2-for-3 with a double and RBI.

In all, Washington had 18 hits.

Garrett, a rookie from Gonzaga University, had a double in the sixth inning that scored Michael August and gave Washington the lead for good at 7-6.

Dominick Ruscitti, a rookie out of Kutztown, and returnees Al Yevoli and Orlando Santos protected the lead by combining for three scoreless innings of relief.

Stoner helped Washington overcome an early 4-2 deficit when he laced a bases-loaded triple into the gap in right centerfield in the fourth inning.

A native of Santee, Calif., Stoner batted .249 last year and led the Wild Things in home runs (10) and RBI (58). He hit much better during the second half of the season, and had a two-homer game Aug. 30 against Joliet.

“In the first half of the season, I struggled because I had a high leg kick with my swing, and I changed my stance what seemed like every other day,” Stoner explained. “Once I found what worked for me, I was more consistent in the second half. I want to hit in the first half this year like I did in the second half last year.”

Shortstop A.J. Nunziato left the game in fourth inning with a lower leg injury. … Third baseman Jovan Rosa is not with the team. He left camp and returned to Connecticut to join his wife for the birth of their child. .. Pitcher Justin hall started for Washington and threw four innings. Reliever Corey Caruso followed for two innings and was the winning pitcher. … Left fielder Andrew Heck is the head coach at Sewickley Academy and coached the team to the WPIAL Class A playoffs. Sewickley Academy will play California in the first round Monday at Burgettstown High School.