Foss on mark as Wild Things top Rascals
Trevor Foss, the ace of the Wild Things’ pitching staff, doesn’t ask for much.
“When he’s not pitching, Trevor’s a bit of a chatterbox in the dugout,” said Washington shortstop Austin Wobrock. “But when he is pitching, about all he says is, ‘Guys, just get me one run. That’s all I need.’ He’s so confident.”
Foss has reason to be confident. One run has often been enough for the right-hander from Jamesville, Wisc. He threw his third complete-game shutout of the season Thursday night as the Wild Things blanked the River City Rascals, 3-0, at Consol Energy Park.
Foss (8-3) threw a three-hitter for his Frontier League-leading eighth complete game. He needed only 110 pitches. Two of River City’s hits never left the infield.
“Again, Trevor Foss is the story,” Washington manager Gregg Langbehn said. “What he’s doing is really unbelievable.”
Foss had excellent location of his pitches against the league’s top hitting team.
The sniper-like action began early and emboldened the Wild Things’ starting pitcher with confidence.
If he wanted to throw the ball two inches under the batter’s hands on the inside corner of the plate, then it happened. If Foss thought about a sneaky off-speed pitch just low and outside, then it was no problem.
And, chances were, Foss was getting a swing and a miss, too.
He allowed only one hit – Josh Ludy’s single up the middle – through six innings and River City’s second hit, which came in the seventh, was a surprise bunt single by cleanup batter Kyle Gardele. Both hits were followed by double-play grounders, the latter in a three-pitch inning.
“We love Trevor to death,” said Wobrock, who scored one Washington run and drove in another. “I’ll say to him we need no more than eight pitches this inning and he’ll deliver. That three-pitch inning was amazing. You love playing defense when he’s pitching.”
Foss finished with only four strikeouts but got 18 outs on ground balls.
River City starting pitcher Tim Koosns (3-4) matched Foss pitch for pitch for five innings. One night after Washington was held to one hit in the second game of a doubleheader against the Rascals, Koons took a no-hitter into the sixth.
“It was a rough series for us,” Langbehn said of his team’s hitting.
Washington finally broke through in the sixth when Wobrock laced a book-rule double to right-centerfield with one out. Jamodrick McGruder followed with a single through the right side. Wobrock, who had to wait to see if the line drive was going to be speared by Rascals first baseman Willi Martin, was waved home by Langbehn. He should have been an easy out but right fielder Clint Freeman overthrew home plate, allowing Wobrock to give Foss his one run.
McGruder made it 2-0 when he scored on a two-out single by Chris Grayson.
Washington pushed its lead to 3-0 in the seventh. With Jimmy Yezzo on second base and Kyle Pollock at first, Wobrock hit a grounder up the middle that River City shortstop Josh Silver fielded behind second base. Silver spun and threw to third in an attempt to catch Yezzo making a wide turn. Yezzo, however, never stopped running to home plate and scored easily.
River City made it interesting in the ninth when Foss hit Silver with a two-out pitch and Gaedele reached on an infield single. Foss, however, finished off the complete game by getting Martin to bounce into a force play.
“You’re never comfortable at 1-0, even when Trevor is locked in like that,” Langbehn said. “Even 2-0 wasn’t good enough. When we scored that third run, I started thinking about pitch counts and far Trevor could go.”
The Wild Things record for shutouts in a season is four, set by Ben Ally in 2003. … The league record for complete games in a season is nine, set in 2000. … Before the game, Washington signed catcher Zach Fish and released infielder Justin Fox. A Michigan native and Seattle resident, Fish was the Chicago White Sox’s 11th round draft pick in 2014 out of Oklahoma State. Fish was released July 4 from Class A Winston-Salem. Fox, a native of New Martinsville, W.Va., and a former Kennedy Award winner as the top high school football player in West Virginia, was batting .125 in 18 games. The Wild Things are at 22 active players, two under the league maximum. … Washington begins a three-game series tonight in Marion, Ill., against West Division leader Southern Illinois.