Jun 14, 2013 4 min read

With Evansville starting pitcher Ryan Zamorsky entering Friday night’s game riding a scoreless streak of 24 1/3 innings to begin his professional career, and Washington’s Shawn Smith coming off an impressive complete game and having allowed only one run in his last 11 innings, the subject of the postgame discussion, naturally, was home runs and a terrific defensive play.

There was the home run hit by Washington’s Jovan Rosa that gave Washington a 2-0 lead only three batters into the bottom of the first inning and snapped Zamorsky’s scoreless streak. The home run sent Washington on its way to a 6-1 victory in the series opener between the top two teams in the Frontier League’s East Division standings.

There also was a potential home run hit to left centerfield by Evansville catcher John Nester in the seventh inning. Despite protests by Nester and Otters manager Andy McCauley, base umpire Jim Schaly and home-plate umpire Matt Neador ruled the ball never left the field of play and hit the outfield wall instead of the second tier of advertising signage.

A half inning later, with Washington leading 4-1, the Wild Things’ Shain Stoner and C.J. Beatty hit back-to-back home runs to cap the scoring, but the oddity was that Beatty’s homer was an inside-the-parker that Evansville right fielder C.J. Henry never saw.

After Stoner hit a 3-2 pitch over the wall in left field to push Washington’s lead to 5-1, Beatty lofted a deep fly ball to right field that smacked off the wall. Henry, however, lost the fly ball in the lights and stood with his arms out to his side, asking for help. Several Otters pointed to the baseball’s location at the base of the wall. Henry turned around, but couldn’t find the ball. By the time first baseman Andrew Clark raced all the way to the wall and retrieved the ball, Beatty had motored around the bases.

“Never had an inside-the-park home run before. Never,” Beatty said. “When I hit it, I thought this might be a home run. When I got to first base, I saw the right fielder with his arms out, so I kept running. I went around second base and thought this will surely be a stand-up triple. Then I saw our skipper, Bart (Zeller), at third base telling me to keep going. I wanted to say, ‘No! I’m out of gas.’ But before I got home, Evansville’s catcher was telling me slow down, that I had it.”

The home runs by Stoner and Beatty – the fifth of the season for each player – put an exclamation point on the win, which pulled the Wild Things to within one game of the first-place Otters. Stoner and Beatty also teamed up for an important defensive play in the eighth inning.

With two outs and the Otters’ Andrew Clark at first base, Frank Martinez lined a hit down the right-field line. Stoner, the right fielder, fired a relay throw to Beatty, the second baseman, who turned and rifled a strike to catcher Jim Vahalik, who in one motion caught the ball and put the tag on the sliding Clark to end the inning.

“The play Vahalik made, with no time to catch and get the tag down, was a great thing,” Zeller said.

Added Beatty, “Usually, we’re lining up a throw to third base when the ball goes into the corner. But it was a first baseman who was on base, and I thought we might still have a chance at the plate. The relay throw that Shain made, and the catch and tag Vahalik made, were both perfect. The pocket in a catcher’s mitt is so small, for Vahalik to make that play in one motion was amazing.”

Smith (3-1) pitched seven innings, scattering six hits and four walks. He did strike out seven and the Wild Things turned two double plays.

After Rosa’s homer made it 2-0, Washington tacked on unearned run in the first inning on a single by Stewart Ijames (3-for-4). Darian Sandford, the league’s stolen base leader, then stole a run in the second inning to make the score 4-0. Sandford walked, stole second and third, and scored on a overthrow by Nester.

Evansville scored its only run in the fifth when nester tripled into the right-field corner and scored on Ryan Kresky’s groundout.

“I thought the guys played with a lot of enthusiasm, even after the long bus trip last night from Normal (Ill.),” Zeller said. “We got the cobwebs out early.”