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New look, same goal for Wild Things

5 min read
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Holly Tonini/Observer-Reporter

Michael Austin will pitch for the Wild Things in their Frontier League season opener tonight against the River City Rascals in O’Fallon, Mo.

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Celeste Van Kirk/Observer-Reporter

Shortstop Brett Marr is back for his second year with the Wild Things, who begin their season tonight in O’Fallon, Mo., against the River City Rascals.

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Holly Tonini/Observer-Reporter

Holly Tonini/Observer-Reporter

Holly Tonini/Observer-Reporter

Gregg Langbehn is back for his fourth season as manager of the Wild Things.

One of the realities of the Frontier League is this: change is constant. Rosters often turn over faster than pancakes. And because of the league’s complex roster restrictions, it’s difficult to keep the majority of a winning team together from one year to the next.

The Wild Things fell one victory shy of the league championship last year, losing Game 5 of the finals at home to Joliet. When Washington opens its 18th Frontier League season tonight at River City, the Wild Things will have only nine players who were with the team a year ago, and one, pitcher Nick Wegman, was around for only a week before he was drafted and signed by the Seattle Mariners.

Among those gone from last season’s edition of the Wild Things are Frontier League Most Valuable Player James Harris and Pitcher of the Year Thomas Dorminy. Each has moved on to other independent leagues. Also gone is catcher Kyle Pollock, who was a three-year starter.

What the Wild Things have this season is a three-year starter in right field, a reliable closer who is tied for the franchise’s career saves record, a former second-round draft pick, an infielder who was once traded for a pitcher who had 437 saves in the major leagues, the brother of the top-rated prospect in the Tampa Bay Rays farm system and several holdovers who have had trouble erasing the memory of last year’s playoff finale.

“It has taken the whole offseason to get over that game,” said right fielder Hector Roa, who is back for his third season with Washington. “It motivates you. We were so close to winning a championship. So, why can’t we win a championship this year? I think we can.

“We have guys with a lot of talent. This should be a good team.”

Roa gives Washington a power hitter in the middle of the lineup. He is one of five outfielders on the roster, including newcomers Blake Adams, Saige Jenco and Preston Scott. They join former California University standout Mick Fennell, who has been one of the best players during spring training. Jenco will start the season on the disabled list.

Brett Marr and Ryan Cox are two returning infielders. Expected to be impact newcomers are Javier Betancourt and Wander Franco. Four years ago, as a prospect in the Detroit Tigers’ system, Betancourt was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers in exchange for pitcher Francisco Rodriguez, a six-time major league all-star. Franco is an eight-year professional and his younger brother, Wander Samuel Franco, is Tampa Bay’s top prospect.

Catcher Lucas Herbert was a second-round draft pick (54th overall) of the Atlanta Braves in 2015. Cody Erickson, who played for Normal last year, is the other catcher.

Michael Austin, who was 3-3 after joining the Wild Things at midseason last year and won a game in the playoffs, will start tonight against River City. Austin struck out 63 batters in 70 innings last year and showed flashes of being a dominant pitcher, especially when he threw six shutout innings in a playoff win over Evansville.

“I think I had a pretty good year but one area I want to improve in is I’d like to go deeper into games,” Austin said. “Sometimes I was trying to strike out too many people and that ran my pitch counts up. I want to be more aggressive early in counts this year.”

Austin, Wegman, closer Zach Strecker and relievers James Meeker and B.J. Sabol are the returning pitchers. Starter John Havird and reliever Tyler Barss played for Traverse City last year and starter Ty Mondile is a former sixth-round draft pick of the Cincinnati Reds.

“For the guys who return, the way the season ended last year should be an incentive,” said manager Gregg Langbehn, who is back for his fourth season in Washington. “For the newcomers, we want to realize we have expectations of winning. However, I see very little carryover from one year to another in this league.”

Two weeks of spring training is not much time for a manager to get a feel for what kind of team he has, but Langbehn said this year’s Wild Things team will have to win in different ways than last year’s club.

“We don’t have as much power in the lineup as we did in the past,” he said. “It’s a different feel offensively. We might have to manufacturer more runs. We don’t have a (Trevor) Foss or Dorminy in the rotation, but we have more pieces. I think our bullpen is strong. I’ve been super impressed with Meeker and Sabol and we know what Strecker can do.”

Extra bases

The Frontier League has contracted to 10 teams. Traverse City and Normal each folded and those cities will field teams in college wood-bat leagues. … Washington is scheduled to play four games in River City and three in Schaumburg before the home opener May 17 against Lake Erie.

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