Sep 18, 2018 5 min read

And so it ends.

The Wild Things’ season, and their Frontier League championship hopes, came to an end Tuesday night with a 4-2 loss to the Joliet Slammers in Game 5 of the finals.

Joliet won the best-of-5 series, 3-2, and captured its second league title.

It was Washington’s third appearance in the finals and its third loss. But this one was different. There was no injury-ravaged lineup, as in 2002, or collapse after taking a 2-0 series lead, as in 2007.

This time, the Wild Things staved off elimination by winning Game 4 Saturday night at Joliet but couldn’t overcome a bumbling third inning and their own lack of hitting with runners in scoring position in Game 5.

“They outplayed us,” Washington manager Gregg Langbehn confirmed.

Joliet forged an early lead by scoring two runs in both the second and third innings, and relief pitcher Cody Clark threw 5 1/3 perfect innings. He retired all 16 batters he faced in relief of starter Nate Antone to get the win. Washington did not have a baserunner after the fourth inning.

After the celebratory dogpile on the mound and the awarding of the championship trophy, Clark was named the Most Valuable Player of the finals. A reliever who was drafted out of the league tryout this year as a catcher, Clark converted back to pitcher during the regular season, the position he played in the Arizona Diamondbacks’ farm system.

“He took care of business,” Langbehn said.

When Washington second baseman Ryan Cox hit a towering popup to shallow left field with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, Joliet shortstop Chaz Meadows backpedaled, settled under the ball and squeezed it in his glove for the game’s final out, sparking a rollicking celebration by the Slammers on the Wild Things Park pitcher’s mound.

Many Washington players watched from the dugout in stunned disbelief. They had come so close to the organization’s first league championship in its 17 seasons.

“We didn’t produce offensively like we did in the regular season,” Langbehn said. “It was like that the whole series. I knew it was going to be a tough matchup with their pitching. … But this doesn’t take away from anything. We had a fantastic year.”

What Washington didn’t have in Game 5 was enough clutch hits, a shutdown inning in the second and a clean third inning.

The Wild Things scored the game’s initial run – the first time in the series they had scored first – in the bottom of the first inning. James Harris led off with a solid single against Antone and Roman Collins walked. Both runners advanced when Reydel Medina grounded out, and Harris scored on a wild pitch.

“We’re a club that if we have to play from behind, then we’re in trouble,” said Joliet manager Jeff Isom.

The Washington lead didn’t last long as Joliet scored twice in the top of the second.

Justin Garcia was hit by the first pitch of the inning from Washington starter Thomas Dorminy. Trenton Hill then laced a one-out line drive to center field and Washington’s James Harris tried to make a diving catch while running toward right centerfield. The ball eluded Harris’ grasp and went for a run-scoring triple.

Meadows followed with an infield single up the third-base line that gave Joliet a 2-1 lead.

The Slammers made it 4-1 in a messy third inning. Two singles put runners on first and third with one out. With Garcia at the plate, a return throw from catcher Kyle Pollock to Dorminy hit off the end of the pitcher’s glove and rolled away, allowing London Lindley to score from third. With no Washington player covering third base, Danny Zardon alertly raced from first base all the way to third base.

“We have to scrap for runs,” Isom said. “We’re not a great offensive team, so we have to scrap, and we did that to get a couple runs early.”

Zardon scored when Garcia singled and the ball went past Harris for Washington’s second error of the inning.

“Too many mistakes,” Langbehn said. “We kept chasing the entire series. That’s a problem when you average only two runs an inning. They outplayed us.”

Dorminy allowed six hits and four runs (three earned) in seven innings. He struck out eight and did not issue a walk.

The Wild Things made it 4-2 with a run in the fourth. Dom Iero had a two-out single that drove in Carter McEachern, who led off the inning with a double. It was the Wild Things’ lone hit with runners in scoring position. They were 1-for-9 in the game, all in the first four innings.

Clark struck out eight over the final five innings.

“We won with our bullpen,” Isom said. “That was our strength all season.”

Extra bases

Jesus Balaguer and Zach Strecker each pitched a scoreless inning of relief for Washington. … Medina hit a two-out triple in the third inning. … The players who filled the designated hitter position for Washington went a combined 0-for-24 in the playoffs.