Sep 7, 2014 4 min read

Ryan Kresky enjoyed playing at Bosse Field in Evansville, Ind. He liked the experience last year when he was a rookie shortstop for the Otters. He returned Saturday night with the Wild Things and helped eliminate Evansville and send Washington to its first Frontier League playoff win in seven years.

Kresky, who is the Wild Things’ shortstop, broke a scoreless tie with a solo home run and had a pair of hits in the Wild Things’ 4-2 victory in a wild-card game.

The win advanced the Wild Things to the best-of-3 semifinal series against the West Division champion River City Rascals. Game 1 is tonight (7 p.m.) at Consol Energy Park. The series will shift to O’Fallon, Mo., for Game 2 Wednesday and Game 3, if necessary, Thursday.

The Wild Things would be wise to keep Kresky in the lineup. When the left-handed hitter from Freehold, N.J., starts, Washington has a .600 winning percentage. The sure-handed shortstop committed only six errors in 63 games.

Kresky missed more than a month during the middle of the season because of an injured hand. He suffered two bone bruises just below the thumb when he made a hard slide into second base.

“That happened in the second or third week of the season,” Kresky explained. “It got to the point where it was hurting the way I played. As much as it killed me, I had to let the injury heal.”

Unable to swing the bat without pain, Kresky was finally shut down June 16 and didn’t return to the lineup until July 22. It took time for the former Northeast Conference Player of the Year at Fairleigh Dickinson University to regain his groove.

Though he batted only .215 during the regular season, Kresky appears to finally be rounding into form. He is batting .359 over Washington’s last 13 games. In the wild-card game, Kresky was 2-for-3 and reached base three times.

“I had a great time and decent year in Evansville,” Kresky said. “They treated me great. The fans were always behind you and treated you with a lot of respect. My last at-bat with Evansville was a walk-off double to end the season.”

Kresky was traded to Washington during the offseason as a player to be named in a deal made last August. The Evansville fans remembered Kresky when he returned to Bosse Field with the Wild Things in July.

“It wasn’t like they gave me a standing ovation, but I could tell I got more applause than the typical player on the opposing team,” Kresky said. “It made me feel good that I was remembered.”

The Otters’ fans will have a hard time forgetting Kresky’s home run in the fifth inning. It gave Washington a lead Saturday night that starting pitcher Zac Fuesser, who took a shutout into the ninth inning, and closer Jonathan Kountis protected over the final five innings.

“This team has great team chemistry. We have a lot of guys who have been here since spring training, and that’s important,” Kresky said. “My experience in this league tells me that if you have a core group of guys who enjoy coming to the field every day and playing for each other, then it makes for a good team.”

The Wild Things are a close team. Sometimes too close, as Kresky found out Aug. 24.

When pitcher Matt Sergey threw the first perfect game in the Frontier League’s 22-year history, Kresky suffered a broken nose during the postgame celebratory scrum near the pitcher’s mound.

“I was got hit by about five different arms and elbows,” he explained.

Kresky, however, hasn’t missed a game because of the broken nose and his play hasn’t suffered.

River City enters tonight’s game as the top seed in the playoffs after winning the West Division with a 61-35 record.

The Rascals are wearing out a path from O’Fallon, Mo., to Washington as this is their third trip to Pennsylvania since the all-star break. The Rascals and Wild Things split six regular-season games in Washington. River City swept a three-game series against the Wild Things in late August at T.R. Hughes Ballpark. Washington was unable protect leads in two of those three games.

This will be the first playoff game in Washington since Game 4 of the championship series in 2007. … Washington’s starting pitcher is expected to be either Scott Dunn (8-5, 3.28) or Troy Marks (5-1, 2.45). … River City won eight of its last nine regular-season games. … The Rascals’ Saxon Butler led the league with 84 RBI and second baseman Hector Crespo led in stolen bases with 38. … Washington and River City are two of the three teams in the league with a winning record on the road.