Wild Things win home opener against Quebec
Ed Thompson for the Observer-Reporter
Wild Things center fielder Andrew Penner slides safely into third base in the first inning Friday during Washington's 7-3 win over Quebec.
Ed Thompson/For the O-R
Outfielder Hector Roa, who has played 459 Frontier League games with the Wild Things, will not be on the opening day roster.
Ed Thompson / For the Observer-Reporter
Andrew Penner delivers in the first inning Friday night with a hit and an error against Quebec at Wild Things Park.
Ed Thompson / For the Observer-Reporter
Mason Dettling, 9, of Bethel Park, crushes his first hot dog on the way to winning Friday night's hot dog-eating contest at the Wild Things' home opener.
Kevin Pimentel
Ed Thompson for the Observer-Reporter
Wild Things starting pitcher Kevin Pimental delivers a strike right down the middle Friday night in the third inning against Quebec at Wild Things Park.
The Wild Things’ opener unfolded like it had been designed on a Norman Rockwell sketch pad.
A bright blue sky, warm breeze and an electric atmosphere lit up Wild Things Park and players could feel the excitement building before the game’s first pitch.
“It was great coming back home and having fans cheering for you again,” said right fielder Hector Roa. “No restrictions; it’s a wonderful thing to have.”
And just like that, the Wild Things struck for three runs in the first inning – two on a triple by Roa – and had visiting Quebec playing catch-up the rest of the night. That was all starting pitcher Keven Pimentel and four relievers needed as Washington defeated Quebec 7-3 Friday night at Wild Things Park.
“That’s the perfect script,” said Washington’s Tom Vaeth, who got his first home win as the team’s manager.
“I have no problem calling on anyone in our bullpen to protect a lead. The blueprint is to get a lead through five or six innings and turn it over to the bullpen.”
Pimentel (2-0) pitched five innings, leaving with a 4-3 lead. He was followed on the mound by rookie John Murphy, and holdovers B.J. Sabol, James Meeker and Zach Strecker, each throwing one scoreless inning.
The hitters gave the relievers some margin for error by scoring three runs in the bottom of the eighth.
Roa, in Washington for a fourth Frontier League season, went 3-for-4 with three RBI and was a home run shy of hitting for the cycle. Second baseman Joe Campagna was 3-for-4 and had the key hit in the eighth, a two-run single that produced a third run when the ball was misplayed in the outfield for an error.
Roa had a two-run triple in the first off Quebec starter David Gauthier (0-1), an RBI single in the third that made it 4-2 and a double in the eighth.
“I was just looking for good pitches to hit and drive the ball,” Roa said. “I was trying to keep it simple. I got three good pitches to handle.”
An RBI single by left fielder Grant Heyman and Roa’s triple staked Pimentel to a 3-0 lead. Quebec pulled to within 3-2 on a home run by David Glaude, his fourth of the season, in the top of the third. Heyman doubled and scored on a Roa single in the bottom of the third, making it 4-2.
Qubec scored one run in the fifth to pull back to within a single run, but Pimentel pitched out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam to exit with the lead.
The Washington relievers protected the lead, allowing only three singles over the final four innings to secure the Wild Things’ second consecutive victory.
“For sure, I believe we have the hitters, and the fielding, to make it far this year,” Roa said. “We just need to not let our guard down. We can’t take anything for granted.”
Notes
Washington is 8-11 all-time in home openers and ended a five-game losing streak in such games. … Quebec reliever Frank Moscatiello struck out seven of the 10 Washington hitters he faced. … Quebec shortstop Gift Ngoepe, who played briefly for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2017, went 3-for-5. … Attendance was listed at 1,875, though the Wild Things had announced they would limit capacity to 1,500. … It was the first of a nine-game homestand that includes a three-game set with Quebec and consecutive weekends.