Jul 18, 2015 5 min read

The Wild Things have eight former players and an ex-manager currently either in the major or minor leagues. That’s an all-time high for the Frontier League team that is in its 14th season.

There also are three Washington County residents in the minor leagues, including former Trinity High School standout Joey Havrilak, who was drafted last month by the Detroit Tigers out of the University of Akron.

The former Wild Things in the majors or minors:

• Pitcher Vidal Nuno (2011) has been well-traveled this season, playing for four teams. He began the year as the opening day starter for the Reno Aces in the Class AAA Pacific Coast League, was called up to the major leagues twice by the Arizona Diamondbacks and then was traded in early June to the Seattle Mariners.

With Arizona, Nuno struck out eight in 6 2/3 innings and gave up only two runs in a relief outing against the Washington Nationals, which was longest outing by a Diamondbacks relievers since 2001. In three games with the Diamondbacks, Nuno had an 0-1 record, 1.88 ERA and 19 strikeouts in 14 1/3 innings. He has pitched in 11 games for Seattle and has a 3.00 ERA. Nuno also pitched one game for the Mariners’ Class AA team in Tacoma, getting a win in a six-inning start.

Nuno has pitched 50 major league games and is the only former Wild Things player to appear in a major league game.

• Outfielder Stewart Ijames (2013-14), who was one of top players in the Frontier League during his 1½ seasons with the Wild Things, was among the top hitters the Class A California League before being promoted late last month to Class AA Mobile (Ala.) of the Southern League. Ijames made an immediate impact with the Bay Bears, hitting a two-run pinch-hit homer in his fourth game to give Mobile a 3-2 win over Tennessee.

With the Visalia Rawhide, an affiliate of the Diamondbacks, Ijames was second in the league with 15 home runs before being sent to Mobile, where he is hitting .343.

• Pitcher Troy Marks, who played for the Wild Things in the second half of last season and was Washington’s starting pitcher in Game 1 of the semifinal series against River City, has pitched at four levels in the Arizona Diamondbacks system.

Marks was promoted in May from extended spring training to Reno. He started the second game of a doubleheader May 2 against Salt Lake City and did not get a decision in an 11-2 Reno win.

Marks was sent back to extended spring training then assigned to Kane County of the Class A Midwest League. He pitched in eight games (one start) for the Cougars before playing briefly for Mobile. Marks is currently with the Hillsboro (Ore.) Hops of the short-season Northwest League.

• Outfielder Quincy Latimore (2013) is batting .267 with five home runs in 73 games for the Bowie Baysox, the Baltimore Orioles’ affiliate in the Class AA Eastern League. One of Latimore’s home runs was a walk-off grand slam against the Harrisburg Senators. Latimore is a former fourth-round draft pick of the Pittsburgh Pirates.

• Mark Williams (2011) is in his fourth season in the Milwaukee Brewers system. The right-handed relief pitcher has appeared with the Brewers’ two full-season Class A teams in Appleton (Wisc.) and Brevard County (Fla.). Williams has an 0-4 overall record, two saves and a 3.29 ERA.

• Chris Smith (2011-12) has pitched for both Class AA Trenton and Class A Tampa in the New York Yankees system. In 11 games with Tampa, Smith has been dominant with a 2-1 record and 0.92 ERA.

• Former Wild Things manager Darin Everson (2010-11) is in his first season as manager of the New Britain Rock Cats, the Colorado Rockies’ affiliate in the Eastern League. After leading the Eastern Division for much of the season’s first half, New Britain has fallen to fifth place with a 44-46 record. New Britain had an 18-game stretch early in the season during which it went 17-1.

• Pitcher Michael Hepple (2013) is a reliever for St. Lucie in the Class A Florida State League and recently played in the league’s all-star game. Hepple has pitched in 23 games, has a 1-2 record and a 2.31 ERA. He has allowed only 27 hits in 39 innings.

• Robbie Garvey (2012) is in his third season with Rancho Cucamonga of the California League. The speedy center fielder is batting .240 with eight stolen bases in 45 games.

The three Washington County natives in the minor leagues:

• McMurray native and Peters Township graduate Jordan Jankowski continues to pitch well while on the cusp of the major leagues for the Fresno Grizzlies, the Houston Astros’ Class AAA affiliate. Jankowski has a 5-2 record with one save and 3.40 ERA. He is averaging more than one strikeout per inning. In his last 10 outings, Jankowski has two wins with a 1.46 ERA.

• Matt Pierpont, who played on Canon-McMillan’s state championship team, is a relief pitcher for the Modest Nuts, the Rockies’ affiliate in the California League. Pierpont has a 3-3 record and a 4.91 ERA in 29 appearances. He was drafted in the 26th round in 2013 out of Winthrop University.

• Drafted in the 18th round by the Tigers, Havrilak has been assigned to Connecticut Tigers of the short-season New York-Penn League and is batting .176 through 21 games with one home run and seven RBI.