Wild Things win in 11, move closer to division title
Kyle Pollock’s double in the top of the 11th inning drove in Hector Roa with the go-ahead run and the playoff-bound Wild Things held off Schaumburg 4-3 Thursday night to complete a three-game series sweep.
The win leaves Washington with a two-game lead in the Frontier League’s East Division over the second-place Joliet Slammers, who split a doubleheader at Traverse City for the second consecutive night. The Wild Things’ magic number for clinching the division title is one. Any Washington win this weekend at Lake Erie or Joliet loss to Schaumburg will give the Wild Things the title.
The loss eliminated the defending champion Boomers from playoff contention.
Washington forged a 3-0 lead in the third inning. Ramsey Romano began the inning with a single and eventually scored on a passed ball. Reydel Medina and Roa each contributed an RBI single.
Washington starter Chase Cunningham allowed only two hits over 6 2/3 innings. He gave up two runs (one earned) and struck out six.
Schaumburg scored one run in the fourth and added a second on a passed ball in the seventh. Cunningham turned the game over the bullpen, but Schaumburg’s Collin Ferguson led off the bottom of the ninth with a solo home run off Washington closer Zach Strecker.
With the tiebreaker rule starting in the 11th, the Wild Things began the inning with Roa at second base. He scored when Pollock laced a double down the left-field line. Pollock, however, was stranded at third base and the Wild Things took a one-run lead in the bottom of the 11th.
A groundout gave Schaumburg a runner at third base with one out, but James Meeker (2-1) struck out Clint Hardy for the inning’s second out. After Hardy was ejected by the home-plate umpire, Meeker induced a game-ending groundout.
SCHAUMBURG, Ill. —