Jun 21, 2018 5 min read

Many of the 2,437 fans at Wild Things Park Thursday night were curiosity seekers. They were there to see former Indianapolis Colts and West Virginia University punter and Barstool Sports Radio personality Pat McAfee play right field for Washington against the Traverse City Beach Bums.

McAfee, who said he had never played organized baseball, didn’t embarrass himself in his one-night stand as a professional baseball player. The Plum Borough native didn’t strike out in three at-bats, advanced to second base on a fielder’s choice and ensuing throwing error, and caught the only fly ball hit to him.

Though McAfee’s performance excited the crowd, it was another Western Pennsylvania guy who had the biggest impact on the game. Traverse City shortstop Will Kengor, a Pittsburgh native and Central Catholic graduate, hit a three-run homer to left field in the first inning, a solo shot to right field in the third and drove in four runs as the Beach Bums crushed the Wild Things, 13-2.

“In high school, Plum was our big rival, so I couldn’t let (McAfee) outshine us,” Kengor said. “That was our motivation. It was definitely a little extra special tonight. It was a great crowd, an electric atmosphere. It was fun.”

Kengor, an all-star caliber player in his three seasons in the Frontier League, has earned the reputation of a Wild Things killer. He finished the night 4-for-5.

“This place is like a second home to me,” Kengor said of Wild Things Park. “I’ve played here since I was a kid. It was one of the few turf fields in the area, so I played some high school and youth league games here. I played college ball at Slippery Rock and we played California here every year. I’ve always seen the ball well here and been comfortable playing here.”

The game was fun in part because of McAfee, who has a loyal following as a sports-talk radio host. There were several fans at the game wearing Colts jerseys with McAfee’s No. 1 on them.

By the third inning, when the Beach Bums batted around and scored six runs to take a 10-2 lead, many of the fans were likely wondering if McAfee could pitch. Washington manager Gregg Langbehn couldn’t have been blamed if he wondered as much after watching his pitching staff give up at least nine runs for the sixth time in the last nine games.

Langbehn was unavailable for comment after the game.

Washington starter Danny Garmendia (2-4) gave up seven hits, two walks and nine runs in 2 1/3 innings. Reliever Aaron Burns yielded Kengor’s solo homer and a two-run shot by Steve Lohr in the fourth.

The loudest roar of the night from the fans came in the top of the second inning when Alec Olund hit a towering fly ball to shallow right field and toward the foul line. McAfee sprinted in, though not gracefully, and made the catch for the second out of the inning.

McAfee batted ninth in the order and by the time he got his first at-bat Washington was trailing 4-2. He swung at the first pitch from Reinaldo Lopez (2-3) and hit a grounder to first base for the inning’s final out.

Lopez gave up six hits and two runs over seven innings. He did not walk a batter and struck out five.

“I feel like Lopez is the definition of a professional pitcher,” Kengor said. “When he has his good stuff, like he did tonight, he’s going to give us seven or eight strong innings. When he doesn’t have his best stuff, he’s going to battle. He’s a lot of fun to play behind.”

One thing Lopez didn’t do was strike out McAfee. In his second at-bat, the former punter made contact with an 89 mph fastball from Lopez and bounced it back to the mound for an out. McAfee made contact again in his third and final plate appearance, in the seventh inning. With a runner on first base, he again hit a fastball back to Lopez, who threw to second base for a forceout but Kengor’s relay throw to first base sailed wide. McAfee immediately turned and raced to second base and slid in ahead of a high throw.

Langbehn then gave McAfee an opportunity to get one final cheer from the crowd by replacing him with pinch-runner Mick Fennell. The move initially drew a loud boo from the crowd before it cheered McAfee.

McAfee left the ballpark shortly after being taken out of the game and was not made available to the media.

Fennell, though a replacement for a punter in right field, made the best play of the night in the eighth inning when he made all-out sprint into the bullpen area and dove to catch a fly ball hit by Olund. It was one of the most spectacular catches in Wild Things history.

Extra bases

The Wild Things begin a three-game series tonight at the Schaumburg Boomers. … Washington first baseman Reydel Medina left the game in the fourth inning, one inning after a collision at first base with the Beach Bums’ Alexis Rivera. … Washington third baseman Mike Hill hit his eighth home run, a solo blast in the second inning.