Aug 17, 2022 4 min read

The Florence Y’alls figured out the mathematics of baseball – two-run homers are better than solo shots – and slowed the Wild Things’ march to the Frontier League playoffs.

Mammoth designated hitter Brennen Price hit a pair of two-run homers in his first two at-bats, giving Florence an early three-run lead and the Y’alls held on a 4-3 victory Wednesday night.

The loss dropped the Wild Things’ record to 29-12 in home games. Florence had lost seven of its last eight.

Washington hit three solo home runs off Florence starter Griffin Baker (3-1).

“We couldn’t get the big hit when we needed it. I’ve been telling our pitchers all year that solo home runs won’t beat you,” Washington manager Tom Vaeth said.

The lefthanded-swinging Price hit both of his home runs – his 17 and 18th of the season – off Washington starter Stephen Knapp (4-4). Both came on fastballs from Knapp, a side-arming righthander.

“Generally, I don’t like facing side-armers,” Price admitted, “because everything runs away from me. I would prefer facing a guy who throws over the top and hard. Those crafty guys, sometimes you think too much against them.”

Price might be thinking differently after his two-homer performance. He hit a Knapp fastball over the right-field wall in the top of the first inning that gave Florence a quick 2-0 advantage.

Washington hit its first solo home run in the bottom of the first when Nick Ward lofted a drive that smacked off the upper left corner of the video board in right field. It was Ward’s team-leading 18th home run.

Price made it 4-1 in the third, taking a Knapp fastball the opposite way and over the wall just to right of the scoreboard in left centerfield.

Washington’s pitching was terrific the rest of the way as Knapp and relievers Zack Erwin and Isaac Mattson combined to face the minimum 18 batters over the final six innings.

Erwin, a lefty reliever who has four wins at the Class AAA level this year, made his Wild Things debut, retiring all six batters he faced. Erwin struck out the side in the seventh and got three quick outs in the eighth.

“We were hurt by two swings,” Vaeth said. “We couldn’t find the right swing when we needed it. My bullpen was really good, which is why I’m excited about the moves we made down the stretch. When our pitching gives up four runs or less, we should win.”

Wagner LaGrange’s solo home run in the fourth made the score 4-2, and Hector Roa hit Washington’s third solo homer of the night in the fifth inning to make it a 4-3 game.

The Wild Things had a chance to take the lead in the seventh when Roa led off with a double up the alley in right centerfield and moved to third base on a sacrifice bunt by Tyler Wilber.

Florence reliever Cam Pferrer was able to get out of the inning when Scotty Dubrule bounced to second base against a drawn-in infield, holding Roa at third base, and Jared Mang followed with a groundout.

Four Florence relievers combined to toss four shutout innings. Joe Dougherty pitched the ninth, striking out the side for his seventh save.

“I’m very happy with our bullpen,” Price said. “They shut the door, for sure.”

Extra bases

New Jersey announced Wednesday that this will be their last season playing at Yogi Berra Stadium in Little Falls. It has been the Jackals’ home for 25 years. In a tweet, the team said it will remain in the Frontier League and will announce in September where it plans to play home games next season.