The Wild Things have a playoff berth secured and can see the light at the end of the Frontier League tunnel – a West Division regular-season title – so days like this do not change the vibe in the clubhouse. After all, Washington is 16-4 over its last 20 games, including a 3-1 loss Sunday to Lake Erie Crushers. Washington saw one game trimmed off its lead in the West as second-place Gateway pulled to within six.
Both teams have 12 games remaining. The real race and intrigue in the West involves Lake Erie and Schaumburg, the two teams vying for the final wild-card playoff spot as the third-place team. Lake Erie currently has a 31⁄2-game lead over the Boomers, which is why the victory over Washington was so important for the Crushers.
Lake Erie heads back to Avon, Ohio, to begin a nine-game homestand starting Tuesday against Schaumburg followed by a series next weekend against the Wild Things. The Crushers would like a few more games that unfold just like Sunday’s contest. Lake Erie got a solo home run from first baseman Scout Knotts in the fifth inning for a 1-0 lead, added to it with a two-run seventh before turning the game over to their hard-throwing relievers.
“We have nine in a row at home coming up and it’s going to be nice to play in front of our home fans down the stretch,” Lake Erie manager Jared Lemieux said. “The boys have put in a lot of hard work. The travel has been rough.
We were in Gateway (Sauget, Ill.) Thursday night before coming here and had a rain delay in the ninth inning before we left. “The key for us will be playing hard with no pressure.
We have a good group of guys who appreciate being around one another and I believe that pays off at the end of the season.” Washington has been playing confident and without pressure for weeks as it has taken a firm grip on the pennant race. Manager Tom Vaeth has even had the luxury of giving some of his starters days off.
“We’re just mixing guys in and out. I’m confident that any lineup I put out there will give us a good chance to win,” he said. “It all starts with the pitching.
” Washington had good pitching against Lake Erie as starter Dariel Fregio (8-4) allowed five hits and one run over six innings. The run was the Knotts homer to left field on a 3-2 pitch in the fifth. Judging by the immediate reaction of Washington catcher Ricardo Sanchez, he believed Fregio had a strikeout of Knotts on the 2-2 pitch but home-plate umpire Saul Lamovsky did not agree.
One pitch later, Knotts gave Lake Erie the 1-0 lead. Lake Erie made it 3-0 in the seventh against reliever Nick McDonald. A one-out single by Knotts was followed by a double to deep center field by Burle Dixon.
John Tuccillo was intentionally walked to load the bases. Logan Thomason, the No. 9 hitter in the lineup, singled to score one run.
Ryan Munoz was then brought in to pitch and he induced a grounder by Jarrod Watkins but it wasn’t hit sharply enough for Washington to turn a double play, allowing Dixon to score and make it 3-0. The Wild Things were blanked by Lake Erie starter Pedro Echemendia (3-6) for six innings on three hits. Echemendia entered the game with a whopping 6.
09 ERA. Washington scored its only run in the eighth against Lake Erie’s 6-7 reliever Sammy Tavarez. Ethan Wilder began the inning by reaching base on an error when Tavarez stepped over first base when he was covering the bag on a grounder.
Sanchez then walked and Tommy Caufield smacked a hard-hit single to right field to load the bases. Jalen Miller grounded out to first base as Wilder scored. Miller’s ball hit off Knotts’ foot but the first baseman recovered in time to get the key out.
Closer Trevor Kuncil entered the game and got the final out of the eighth inning and pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his 20th save. Extra bases Washington begins a series at home Tuesday against Joliet. Gateway will be hosting Florence.
The Wild Things’ magic number for clinching the division title is 7..
