Jun 5, 2018 5 min read

The month of May wasn’t exactly a busy or productive one for Wild Things infielder Brett Marr.

On only six days in the Frontier League’s opening month did Marr find his name in the lineup, and in those few chances he mustered just three hits and a .120 batting average. However, since the calendar has turned to June, Marr has been an impact player.

Marr went 4-for-6 with three RBI Tuesday night and delivered a game-winning single in the bottom of the 11th inning as Washington defeated the travel-weary Traverse City Beach Bums 10-9 at rain-soaked Wild Things Park.

Marr has seven hits in his last two games, none bigger than the opposite-way grounder that went just inside the first-base bag and scored Reydel Medina from second base with the game-winning run.

It was the Wild Things’ first game of the season that went to the International Tiebreaker, in which each half inning after the 10th starts with a runner on second base.

Marr’s hit came with two outs and off Traverse City’s Karl Blum (0-1), who was making his professional debut after being signed earlier in the day out of Rutgers University. Marr, who was acquired in an offseason trade with Sioux Falls of the American Association, has raised his batting average 130 points in the early days of June.

“It’s hard to take a guy like that out of the lineup,” Washington manager Gregg Langbehn admitted. “You have to let him run with it.

“Brett has a short, compact swing and doesn’t try to do too much, which is why I think he can be successful in this league.”

Marr was successful on this night in more than the 11th inning. He hit a two-run through the right side of the infield in the fifth inning that gave Washington a 7-6 lead.

The Wild Things, however, couldn’t stay in front. In a game that had more twists and turns than a Washington County back road, Traverse City scored three times in the eighth inning to take a 9-8 lead but Washington forced extra innings when James Harris’ two-out triple in the bottom of the ninth scored Mike Hill.

Washington’s pitching staff had a rocky night. Seven Wild Things pitchers combined to walk 10 batters, half of those coming in the Beach Bums’ four-run fourth inning. Four of the 10 walks came around to score.

“We won, that’s the good thing,” Langbehn said. “I wasn’t overly thrilled with how we pitched. There were too many walks. We walked the Nos. 8 and 9 hitters six times. It wasn’t real pretty.”

But it was a win nonetheless. Washington had 16 hits, including three by designated hitter Carter McEachern. Eight Wild Things hitters had at least one hit.

Jamal Wilson (1-0) pitched the final two innings to get the win. He shut out the Beach Bums in the tiebreaker inning, getting two strikeouts around a groundout.

The loss capped a long day for Traverse City. The Beach Bums left Michigan at 4 a.m. bound for Pennsylvania and an alternator belt on the team bus broke outside of Toledo, Ohio. They didn’t arrive in Washington until 2:30 p.m.

The game was delayed because of rain for 42 minutes in the top of the fourth inning, when Traverse City scored four runs on only two hits and erased Washington’s 3-1 lead. The Beach Bums hit only one ball that left the infield during the inning but were bolstered by uncharacteristic wildness by Washington starter Thomas Dorminy and reliever Trevor Bradley. Dorminy had issued only three walks all season (25 1/3 innings) but walked four batters in the fourth.

The Wild Things took an 8-6 lead when Hector Roa scored on a sacrifice fly by Harris in the seventh inning, but Traverse City scored three times in the eighth to regain the lead. The Beach Bums did the damage after Washington reliever Sam Mersing retired the first two batters of the inning. Things unraveled quickly for Washington as Mersing walked Max Dutto and Donald Glover Jr., and Arby Fields doubled to right field to drive in one run.

Washington closer Zach Strecker was brought in to face former Wild Things teammate Kenny Peoples-Walls, who laced a line-drive double off the glove of diving third baseman Mike Hill. Glover and Fields scored on the play, giving Traverse City a 9-8 lead.

Extra bases

Traverse City catcher Kendall Patrick hit a solo homer in the fifth inning. … Each team used seven pitchers. … Traverse City will start John Havird (1-1, 3.96) on the mound tonight. It will be the Wild Things’ 23rd game of the season and Havird will be the first left-handed starting pitcher to face Washington. … It was the fifth time in Traverse City’s 21 games that the Beach Bums have played to the International Tiebreaker. … Washington is 6-7 all-time in tiebreaker games. … Harris, Washington’s leadoff hitter, entered the night leading the league in RBI (20) and extra-base hits (14). … Traverse City shortstop Will Kengor is a Pittsburgh native who played at central Catholic High School and Slippery Rock University.