May 27, 2018 5 min read

The current Wild Things players who were with the team last September might have preferred three wins over Florence in postseason instead of this spring. That, however, doesn’t diminish their excitement over what happened during the holiday weekend.

Washington overcame a bumbling start and a four-run deficit to rally for a 5-4 victory over Florence Sunday night and complete a three-game sweep of the Freedom – the team that eliminated the Wild Things from the Frontier League playoffs last season.

“You don’t play in September if you don’t win these games early in the season,” Washington catcher Kyle Pollock said.

Pollock, who is in his third year with Washington. played a significant role in both the sweep and the come-from-behind win in the series finale. Pollock hit a game-winning sacrifice fly in the ninth inning Friday night and homered in the Wild Things’ victory Saturday night.

On Sunday, Pollock hit a solo home run – his team-leading fifth of the season – in the seventh inning that seemed to pump some much-needed life into the Wild Things. An inning later, he dunked a broken-bat double into shallow center field that brought home Roman Collins with the go-ahead run.

Pollock wasn’t the only Washington player who had more than a casual role in the win. Pitchers Jamal Wilson, Davis Adkins (2-1) and Sam Mersing allowed only one run over six innings of relief. Mersing pitched a scoreless ninth inning for his first save as a professional.

Wilson allowed one run in three innings against his former team. He was with the Freedom last year and released at the end of spring training earlier this month. He was making his Wild Things debut.

“Wilson gave us three excellent innings,” Washington manager Gregg Langbehn said. “Adkins pitched very well and Mersing was thrown into a new situation for him.”

Mersing closed the game because Zach Strecker had pitched and earned a save each of the previous three nights and was given a day off.

Before Mersing could protect a lead, Washington had to fight back from a 4-0 deficit. The Wild Things’ lineup was handcuffed by Florence starter Zach Kirby, who allowed one hit over six innings in his first start of the season. Of Washington’s first 18 outs, 12 were flyouts or popups

“After the fifth inning, I told our guys that the popout really wasn’t working for us,” Langbehn joked.

Florence went to the bullpen in the seventh, bringing in Cody Gray, who has been one of the Freedom’s top starting pitchers.

Pollock, the second batter Gray faced, hit another fly ball but this one carried down the foul line and over the left-field wall for a solo homer. Hector Roa followed by reaching second base on a throwing error. Reydel Medina’s line-drive single scored Roa and cut Florence’s lead to 4-2.

“In the seventh inning, Roa walked up to me and said, ‘We’re going to win this game,’ Pollock recalled. “That’s the kind of vibe this team has.”

Gray walked James Harris with one out in the bottom of the eighth, and with two left-handed hitters up next, Florence brought in lefty reliever Marty Anderson (2-1), who had not allowed a run all season, covering 15 2/3 innings. Anderson gave up a single to Carter McEachern and Collins followed with a two-run triple to the angle in right-centerfield, tying the score at 4-4.

Jonathan Tripp was brought in to face Pollock, and with the infield playing in, the Washington catcher hit a broken-bat fly ball. Florence center fielder Andre Mercurio raced him and tried to make a diving catch but the ball hit in front of him and rolled for a double as Washington took a 5-4 lead.

“I thought the ball would fall when I hit it but the center fielder made a good effort. There was a moment when I thought he might catch it,” Pollock said while holding what was left of his broken bat.

The finish was much better than the start for Washington. Florence scored three times in the first inning, on only one hit, taking advantage of three errors and three walks. Starting pitcher Aaron Burns threw 39 pitches in the inning.

“Hands down that was an uninspiring start – walks, a few errors and not being ready to play for some reason,” Langbehn said.

“When Pollock hit the home run, I thought ‘OK, here we go.’ We scored another run on an error and Medina’s hit, then Adkins throws another zero and we still had the momentum. Then we get single, triple, double against a couple of really good pitchers.”

Extra bases

Washington begins a three-game series today at Joliet. … Florence shortstop Austin Wobrock had three hits. It was his first three-hit game since 2016, when he was with Washington.