May 25, 2017 4 min read

If you are a former Texas A&M-Corpus Christi pitcher, then Wednesday night was a good time to be at Wild Things Park.

Former Islanders teammates Trevor Foss and Trevor Belicek turned in strong starts in Washington’s doubleheader against the Southern Illinois Miners.

Foss, a right-hander, flirted with a bit of Wild Things history as he took a no-hitter into the final inning and settled for a one-hit shutout in the opener as Washington won 10-0. Belicek, a lefty, allowed one unearned run over five innings in the nightcap as the Wild Things completed a sweep with a 2-1 victory.

Belicek (1-1) and relievers Davis Adkins and Zach Strecker combined on a three-hitter.

Foss, who is in his second season with Washington, walked three and struck out six in his first home start of the season. He took a no-hitter into the seventh and final inning. The drama died quickly, however, as Foss, who said his last no-hitter was tossed in high school travel ball, threw a first-pitch fastball to Nolan Earley, who lined a clean single to right centerfield.

“My thought was to throw a first-pitch fastball in off the plate and I did not execute so well.” Foss said. “I wanted to get ahead in the count and left one over the plate.”

Foss improved his record to 3-0 and lowered his ERA to 0.90 through three starts. It was his first complete game. Last year, Foss was lapping the field in that category with eight (in 14 starts) before having his contract purchased by the Cleveland Indians organization in August.

“I’m not even close to last year. I felt more comfortable last year,” Foss said.

“Maybe that because last year I didn’t have a slider. That’s a new pitch for me. I’m confident I’ll eventually get there.”

Washington gave Foss the only offense he needed with a three-run first inning. The Wild Things added one run in the fourth and knocked out Southern Illinois starter Zach Cooper (1-2) with a five-run fifth. The Wild Things had 13 hits, including a triple by Kenny Peoples-Walls and one double each by Kane Sweeney and Hector Roa.

Singles by Rashad Brown, Jace Conrad and Bralin Jackson, who was 3-for-3, loaded the bases with one out in the first inning and Sweeney hit a two-run double to right field. Jackson made it 3-0 when he scored on a ground ball by Roa.

Peoples-Walls tripled to right centerfield in the fourth and scored when Alex Fernandez reached on an error, giving Washington a 4-0 lead. The Wild Things had everything going their way in the opening game, especially when they broke the game open in the fifth, using three infield hits, a broken-bat single and Brown’s two-run bloop single. They even scored a third run on Brown’s hit when the throw from Miners left fielder Josh Henderson ricocheted off the mask of catcher Ben Moore and went out of play, down the third-base dugout steps.

Every time I pitch I get run support. I love it,” Foss said. “This team has a different makeup than last year’s. We’re not going to hit balls over walls, but we’re going to score a lot of runs.”

A double by Roa scored Mike Hill in the sixth and made it a 10-0 game.

Washington broke a 1-1 tie in the fourth inning of the second game when Peoples-walls reached on a two-out error, stole second base and scored on a double down the left-field line by catcher Kyle Pollock.

Belicek, who is in his first season with the Wild Things after playing in the Atlanta Braves and Baltimore Orioles systems, allowed only two hits and two walks. He struck out three.

Adkins pitched a 1-2-3 sixth inning and Strecker pitched the seventh for his second save. Southern Illinois’ Craig Massey hit a two-out pinch-hit double but Strecker got Josh Henderson to fly out.

Washington took a 1-0 lead in the second inning as Jackson singled, advanced on a wild pitch and scored on a double by Peoples-Walls. The Miners pulled even in the third as Ryan Lashley walked and scored when Earley’s long fly ball to left field was dropped for a two-base error.

Jackson and Southern Illinois first baseman Justin Chigbogu were teammates at Raytown South High School in Missouri. … Southern Illinois was no-hit May 13 by Evansville’s Shane Weedman. … Earley had half of the Miners’ four hits int he doubleheader. … The Wild Things conclude their series tonight (7:05) and Washington will open a weekend series Friday against the Florence Freedom, who have the best record in the Frontier League at 8-2.