Caufield caps comeback as Wild Things win
Following his team’s game Sunday night, Wild Things manager Tom Vaeth took some time to tell his players a story about one of his former coaches from decades ago. The grizzled, old-school coach asked Vaeth one day if he knew the difference between an amateur and a professional baseball player.
“An amateur is a guy who goes 0-for-4 with two or three strikeouts and lets those at-bats bother him so much that went he gets a fifth at-bat, with the game on the line, he strikeouts out again.
“A professional,” the old coach continued, “goes 0-for-4 with two or three strikeouts but doesn’t let those results bother him, and when he gets a fifth at-bat, with the game on the line, he gets a hit that wins the game.”
Consider Wild Things rookie third baseman Tommy Caufield a professional.
Caufield, who had been hitless in four previous at-bats Sunday with three strikeouts, hit a bases-loaded single with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning that scored Scotty Dubrule and pinch-runner Dylan Broderick and gave Washington a 5-4 come-from-behind win over the Schaumburg Boomers.
It also gave the Wild Things a series win and its second consecutive come-from-behind victory.
Caufield’s hit came with Schaumburg leading 4-3, the bases loaded and against Boomers closer Jake Joyce (3-2). A rookie from Millersville University, Caufield has been with Washington for less than a month and had never faced Joyce before this trip to the plate.
“I was going up there ambushing a fastball,” Caufield explained. “I got something that was down and in, so I’m just trusting my hands at that point.”
Caufield hit a soft line drive down the right-field line that scored Dubrule and Broderick without drawing a throw to home plate.
The first-pitch hitting approach was what Washington used Saturday night when Robert Chayka smacked a two-run single that gave the Wild Things the lead late in a 6-3 come-from-behind win.
“Don’t give any pitcher a freebie (strike),” Vaeth said. “If you’re not ready to hit and you take a strike, then a good pitcher is going to carve you up. Tommy got a pitch to hit and put his best swing on it.”
Washington had to rally after Scahumburg scored twice in the seventh inning against Washington’s bullpen to grab a 4-3 lead. Alex Craig had a two-run double off reliever Justin Goossen-Brown, who had inherited a full-blown jam left by Will Solomon.
Goosen-Brown was able to escape the rest of the seventh unscathed with the help of a double-play comebacker, and Arrison Perez (1-3) picked up his first professional win by following with two scoreless innings.
That set the stage for the bottom of the ninth. With one out, Dubrule reached on an infield single. Then, with Dubrule running on a 3-2 pitch, Wagner Lagrange hit a grounder to Schaumburg shortstop Alec Craig, who booted the ball for an error. Andrew Czech walked to load the bases, but Joyce struck out Tristan Peterson for the second out, which brought Caufield to the plate.
Washington starter Kobe Foster allowed two runs, on solo homers by Kyle Fitzgerald and John Fiorenza, over six innings.
The Wild Things forged a 2-0 lead in the first inning. Anthony Brocato hit a leadoff homer, and Dubrule singled and scored on a double by Peterson. The Wild Things made it 3-1 in the fifth when Abraham Sequera singled, moved to third on a hit-and-run single by Lagrange and scored when Peterson walked on a 3-2 pitch.
“We have a pretty good team,” Caufield said. “This is a win that could kick-start the rest of the season.”