close

Mang’s homer, shutout pitching spark Wild Things

4 min read
article image -

The Joliet Slammers spent much of Saturday night trying to overcome what Jared Mang did with one innocent swing of the bat in the first inning. Pitchers Kobe Foster, Dan Kubiuk, Kenny Pierson and Lukas Young made sure the Slammers never recovered.

Mang hit a solo homer two batters into the bottom of the first, Foster and three relievers combined on a six-hitter and the Wild Things snapped a two-game losing skid with a 3-0 victory before an enthusiastic crowd of 3,281 on Country Night.

The win, combined with Florence’s 7-0 win at Evansville, moved the Wild Things back into sole possession of first place in the Frontier League’s West Division. Washington will begin Sunday with a one-game lead over Evansville.

Mang, Washington’s left fielder, homered off Joliet starter Spencer Johnston (0-1), who was making his professional debut. A right-handed rookie out of Arkansas-Monticello, Johnston gave up only two runs over 5 2/3 innings though he didn’t throw a pitch faster than 85 mph.

“He was hiding the ball pretty good and mixing his speeds,” Mang said. “When a pitcher does that, you look for something that is elevated. I was fortunate that I got one and didn’t miss it.”

Mang’s home run, his seventh of the season, was a no-doubter to left field and gave Washington the only run it would need.

Foster (2-1), a left-handed rookie out of Tennessee Wesleyan, where he had a 25-1 record over the last two seasons, threw six shutout innings. He scattered four hits and issued only one walk. He struck out six, including three of the first four batters of the game.

Foster exited after throwing 74 pitches. Being a pitcher who threw 101 college innings this spring, Foster is monitored closely by the Wild Things.

“He’s on a pitch count every time,” Washington manager Tom Vaeth said. “He and I talked about that during the signing process. He’s going to have some down time coming. He’s not making the Canada trip (July 22-28) with us, but he’s going to be an important pitcher in the second half of the season.”

The Wild Things worked hard to sign Foster, who pitched Tennessee Wesleyan to the NAIA World Series each of the last two years.

“There were a bunch of teams that were after him, not only in this league but others, too. There’s not a guy I went harder after than this one.”

Foster left the game with a 2-0 lead. Washington scored in the fifth inning when Nick Ward raced home to score from second base on a single by Mang. The run came one batter after Joliet center fielder Kyle Jacobsen threw out Washington’s Matt Phipps, who was trying to score from second base on a single up the middle by Ward, who ended up on second base on the play. Mang followed with his single, which followed the same path as Ward’s hit.

Kubiuk struck out two batters in the seventh, Pierson struck out three of the four batters he faced in the eighth and Young picked up his 10th save by tossing the ninth inning, which concluded with a pair of strikeouts.

“My bullpen has been good. I have no complaints,” Vaeth said. “Those guys have done a really good job on a nightly basis.”

Washington’s final run scored in the seventh inning against Joliet reliever Chandler Brierley, a tall (6-8) lefty. Phipps led off with a single up the middle, moved up on a walk by Ward and a double-play grounder, and scored on an infield single by Scotty Dubrule.

The series finale today (5:35 p.m.) will be the Wild Things’ last at home until July 29.

“We just have to take it cone game at a time, win the series and go from there,” Mang said.

CUSTOMER LOGIN

If you have an account and are registered for online access, sign in with your email address and password below.

NEW CUSTOMERS/UNREGISTERED ACCOUNTS

Never been a subscriber and want to subscribe, click the Subscribe button below.

Starting at $3.75/week.

Subscribe Today