Jun 22, 2021 3 min read

Scuffling baseball teams find ways to lose and the Wild Things have been no exception.

Two baserunning gaffes by Washington – one at second base and the other at first – and one ugly inning loomed large late in Florence’s chilly 7-2 win over the Wild Things in a series opener Tuesday night.

Washington had a runner picked off at second base in the first inning and another at first base in the fourth. Those plays were pivotal until Florence broke the game open by scoring four runs in the top of the ninth inning.

It was the sixth win in nine games against Washington for Florence, which began the night one game behind first-place Evansville in the West Division. The Wild Things have lost three in a row and fallen to 10-14.

Florence forged a 1-0 lead in the first inning. After Washington starter Kevan Pimentel (3-2) struck out the first two batters he faced, Chad Sedio drew a walk and scored when Trevor Craport laced a double down the left-field line.

Washington had threatened in the bottom of the first as leadoff batter Connor Perry was at second base with two outs but he was picked off by Florence starter Jonaiker Villalobos (1-0).

In the fourth, Villalobos caught Nick Ward leaning off first base and the Washington infielder was thrown out trying to advance to second base.

Having two baserunners picked off stood out because the Wild Things mustered only two singles and a walk through the first four innings.

The Y’alls made it 2-0 in the top of the fourth and again a walk came around to score. Connor Crane drew a one-out free pass and moved to third when Jordan Brower hit his second double in as many at-bats. Jackson Pritchard followed with a sacrifice fly to left field.

Three singles in the sixth, the last a perfectly placed squeeze bunt by Will Baker that scored Craport, pushed Florence’s lead to 3-0.

Villalobos pitched shutout ball through six innings and started the seventh by retiring Grant Heyman on a fly ball. Villalobos, a lefty, was pulled at that point in favor of Andrew McDonald to face right-handed hitting Hector Roa.

Roa lifted a fly ball to right field that Baker seemed to be camped under but he had lost the ball in the dusk conditions and it fell on the warning track behind him, allowing Roa to motor into third base with a triple. Andrew Sohn followed by driving a ball into the gap in right centerfield that gave Washington back-to-back triples and its first run.

The game was then stopped briefly as McDonald was forced to return to the clubhouse and take off is metal spikes, which are prohibited on the Wild Things Park turf, and switch to rubber spikes.

McDonald returned to the game and Andrew Czech’s two-out single scored Sohn and trimmed the Y’alls lead to 3-2.

That would be as close as the Wild Things could get as Florence erupted for four runs in the top of the ninth against reliever B.J. Sabol. The Y’alls had five hits in the inning, including a double by Luis Pintor and a triple by Chad Sedio. Florence’s final run scored on a wild pitch.

Notes

Brower left the game in the fourth inning with an apparent shoulder injury after diving and grabbing an infield single by Ward. … Three Tri-City pitchers combined Tuesday night to throw the league’s second no-hitter of the season, 3-0 over Sussex County.