Jul 18, 2015 6 min read

After 8 1/2 innings of missed opportunities, stranded baserunners and clutch pitching in tight situations Saturday night, you had the feeling the Wild Things’ game against the Normal CornBelters was going to be decided by something unusual instead of a home run or ringing double into a gap.

That’s exactly what happened.

Washington’s Carter Bell raced home from third base with the winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning when Normal third baseman Richard Lucas took his eye off Danny Poma’s bases-loaded line drive and had it glance off his glove. The play gave the Wild Things a 2-1 victory and capped a night in which the teams combined to go 0-for-20 with runners in scoring position.

“I’m just glad he didn’t catch it,” Poma said on the first steamy night of the season at Consol Energy Park.

The play came with one out and after the Wild Things loaded the bases against relief pitcher Matt Rutledge (1-4), who was making his CornBelters debut after being acquired in a trade with River City. With one out, Bell reached on an infield single to the hole at shortstop, Austin Wobrock followed with a single up the middle and Maxx Garrett drew a walk to load the bases.

Poma, the Wild Things’ leadoff hitter, then hit a hard line drive just to the left of Lucas at third base. Lucas made the mistake of trying to get two outs before he got one. Lucas turned his head and took a quick glance at Bell just before the ball reached his glove, which was raised about head high to the left of his body. The ball deflected off the glove and rolled toward the middle of the diamond as Bell chugged home with the winning run.

“That was an exciting game,” Washington manager Bob Bozzuto said. “It was a great game. It had a lot of strategy but lot of missed opportunities.”

The majority of squandered chances were by Normal, which was 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position. With the score tied 1-1, the Cornbelters left the bases loaded in both the eighth and ninth innings.

In the ninth, Normal was aided for the second night in a row by Washington failing to get an out on a sacrifice bunt by the CornBelters. The miscue put runners on first and third with one out. With Washington playing its infield in to cut off the potential winning run at home plate, Bell, who is Washington’s third baseman, speared a grounder by Jim Vahalik, held Sam Judah at third base and threw to first base for the inning’s initial out.

Jonathan Kountis (1-1) then replaced Matt Purnell on the mound and intentionally walked Jason Marjano, the No. 9 hitter in the Normal lineup, to load the bases. Cameron Monger popped out to shortstop for the inning’s second out.

“The first thing Boz said to me when I came in was we’re going to walk the batter to set up the double play,” Kountis explained. “With the bases loaded, I didn’t want to fall behind in the count and have the hitter know what I was throwing. I wanted to pound the strike zone.”

That didn’t happen against Santiago Chirino as Kountis fell behind in the count at 3-1.

“He swung at my 2-0 pitch, so I knew he was an aggressive hitter,” Kountis said. “He also had a big game (three RBI) Friday night, so I knew he was feeling good about the way he was hitting. I was thinking he would probably swing at 3-1, so I wanted to keep the ball down and in the strike zone.”

Just as Monger did, Chirino popped up the pitch to Wobrock at shortstop.

“The key play in that inning was Bell going to his left and getting an out while looking the runner back to third base,” Bozzuto said.

It was another luckless, winless start for Washington pitcher Matt Sergey. A right-hander who last August threw the only perfect game in Frontier League history, Sergey allowed only one run and five hits over 6 1/3. He struck out eight but exited after giving up a run-scoring double to Sam Judah in the seventh. Judah, who also doubled in the ninth, hit a line drive into the gap in right centerfield and the ball rolled all the way to wall, allowing Lucas to score from first base and tie the score at 1-1.

It was Sergey’s fifth consecutive start, and the eighth time in 10 starts this season, in which he allowed no more than one run. Sergey has only three wins in those eight stellar starts as he has suffered from a lack of run support. Washington has scored only 31 runs in Sergey’ outings and 10 of those came in one game against Southern Illinois.

Sergey spent several innings protecting a 1-0 lead. The Wild Things loaded the bases with no outs in the fourth against Normal starter Michael Schweiss but could push across only one run.

Consecutive singles by Matt Peters and Sam Mende preceeded a walk to Scott Kalamar that loaded the bases. Schweiss got a strikeout of hot-hitting David Popkins before C.J. Beatty bounced out to first base as Peters scored the game’s first run.

“There was some good pitching in that game,” Bozzuto said. “Those guys battled. It’s good to win a game like that, especially after losing the first game in the series.”

Prior to the game, Washington activated Beatty off the disabled list and released outfielder Jon Minucci. Beatty was the designated hitter Saturday. Minucci was signed when Betty was placed on the DL last week. He went 2-for-16 in six games. … Chirino stole three bases after entering the night with only seven all season. … Washington relief pitcher Steve Messner replaced Sergey and retired both batters he faced to work out of the seventh-inning jam. … Purnell struck out Lucas with the bases loaded to end the CornBelters’ eighth inning. … The series finale is today at 2:35 p.m.