Wild Things sweep series but fall short of playoffs
There will be no playoff baseball at Wild Things Park in September for the first time since 2019.
That dreary fact had been hinted at for the past month but it became official Thursday night.
The Wild Things, however, can take some consolation in knowing that they went down fighting, playing some of their best baseball of the year.
Facing a steep uphill climb and with no margin for error, Washington did all it could do in a series against the Joliet Slammers that ended Thursday night with a 3-2 victory.
The Wild Things swept the three-game series, something they had not done since May 16-18 against the New York Boulders in the second series of the year.
To remain in contention for the final wild-card spot in the West Division, Washington needed a Gateway win over Evansville. The Otters, however, were 6-0 winners over the Grizzlies to clinch the final West Division wild-card berth. Gateway clinched the West Division title Wednesday night by sweeping a doubleheader from the Otters with both wins coming in walk-off fashion.
Washington defeated Joliet because of designated hitter Anthony Brocato’s two-run opposite-field home run in the sixth inning, an RBI single by Caleb McNeely an inning later and some good pitching for nine frames.
Starter Zach Kirby and relievers Justin Goossen-Brown (7-0), Christian James and Lukas Young scattered eight Joliet hits. Young tossed a 1-2-3 ninth inning for his 14th save.
Brocato’s home run, his 28th of the season and second in as many nights, gave Washington a 2-1 lead. It came off Joliet starter Ricky Castro (4-7), a rookie out of Tulane. Castro struck out eight and did not walk a batter in six innings.
In the six starts Kirby has made, Washington has scored only two runs while the rookie righthander out of Loyola Marymount was still in the game. He left the Thursday trailing 1-0 after five innings. He allowed four hits and walked two. Kirby struck out five and left again without his first professional win.
Joliet took the 1-0 lead in the third inning. Julian Boyd hit a one-out single and stole second base, one of his three swipes on the night. A wild pitch moved Boyd to third base and Liam McArthur hit a two-out, broken-bat single to right field to drive in the game’s first run.
In the bottom of the sixth, third baseman Wes Darvill led off with a single up the middle, his second base hit of the game. Darvill was at third base after two groundouts, but he didn’t stay there for long as Brocato lofted a 2-0 pitch from Castro over the wall in right field to give Washington the lead.
The Wild Things made it 3-1 in the seventh against Joliet lefty reliever David Harrison, a rookie out of North Carolina State. After Harrison retired the first two batters of the inning, Carson Clowers, the No. 9 hitter in the lineup, turned on a pitch and laced it into the left-field corner for a double. McNeely followed with a line-drive single up the middle that scored Clowers.
Joliet loaded the bases with one out against James in the eighth but could get only a sacrifice fly by Matt McGarry that scored Phillip Steering and made it a 3-2 score.
Extra bases
The Wild Things begin the final series of the year tonight at home against Windy City. … McNeely (2-for-4) was the only Wild Things player with multiple hits. … Washington was 6-3 against Joliet this season, including 5-1 at Wild Things Park.