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Rookies pitch in, lead Wild Things to series sweep

5 min read
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With starting pitcher Kevin McNorton on the disabled list and his spot in the rotation up Thursday night, the Wild Things had to make some adjustments.

The plan was to give Ben Vicini, a rookie who played this spring for Seton Hill University, his first professional start. He would be followed on the mound by Steven Colon, a 21-year-old rookie who was signed earlier this week and would be making his professional debut.

The Wild Things hoped, in a best-case scenario, to get six innings out of the Vincini-Colon combination and still be in contention for a win. They could then turn to the more experienced pitchers in their bullpen for the final three innings.

Vincini and Colon not only went six innings, they did more than was expected. The rookies combined for seven sterling innings, allowing only one unearned run, and Washington completed its first series sweep of the season by defeating the New Jersey Jackals, 2-1.

Vincini pitched four solid innings and Colon (1-0) followed for three shutout frames to get his first pro win after joining the Wild Things on Tuesday.

“The plan was to get six innings, in some combination, out of the two of us,” Colon explained.

And after pitching a scoreless top of the sixth and the score tied 1-1, Colon was asked by manager Tom Vaeth if he could provide a little more. He didn’t need to ask twice.

“I said ‘Let me go out and I’ll give you one more,” said Colon, a Bronx, N.Y., native whose only collegiate pitching experience was at the junior college level. “He asked how I felt, and I said that I felt good and was ready to perform.”

It was quite a performance by Colon. He allowed only one hit, did not walk a batter and struck out four, including two of the three batters he faced in the seventh inning.

“There was no reason for that kid to come out of the game,” Vaeth said. “I could tell he was nervous earlier in the day, but I reminded him that it’s no different than any other night. It doesn’t matter if you’re getting a paycheck or not. Baseball is baseball. The pitcher’s mound is still 60 feet, six inches from home plate.”

After Washington pushed across the go-ahead run in the bottom of the sixth on a two-out double into the right-field corner by Grant Heyman, scoring Nick Ward, the Wild Things turned to the most reliable relievers to finish the game.

James Meeker and Zach Strecker each pitched one inning for the third consecutive night. Meeker struck out two Jackals in the eighth and Strecker worked a 1-2-3 ninth for his seventh save of the season and 59th of his career, which tied him for second place on the Frontier League’s all-time list with former Wild Things closer Jonathan Kuntis.

Vincini gave up two hits in his four innings. He walked three but struck out four.

“Vicini did a good job,” Vaeth said. “I wouldn’t say he had his best stuff, but he battled.”

Colon had tried to hook on with some Frontier League teams after the season began. He even threw a bullpen session for New Jersey two weeks ago.

“I tried out for the Jackals but they took a hard pass, I was told,” Colon said. “It felt good to throw three zeroes against the team that passed on you.”

Washington didn’t pass on Colon when he threw a bullpen session for the Wild Things during their series last weekend at the New York Boulders.

“We liked what we saw,” Vaeth said. “(Pitching coach Alex Boshers) liked his stuff. I liked his breaking ball. We thought he could be that missing bullpen guy for us — somebody who could come in an command the strike zone.”

Washington struck first, scoring a run in the bottom of the second against New Jersey starter Chris Tessitore. Right fielder Bralin Jackson led off with a line-drive single up in the middle and stole second base. Groundouts by Andrew Czech and Hector Roa moved Jackson around to score the game’s first run.

New Jersey tied it in the third with an unearned run on two singles, a throwing error by Vicini and a sacrifice fly off the bat of Demetrius Moorer.

In the pivotal bottom of the sixth, Ward drew a one-out walk off Jackals reliever Matt Vogel (1-1), stole second base and scored on Heyman’s double.

“We had two big at-bats,” Vaeth said. “We had a productive out, which was an RBI, and a two-out hit for the other RBI. Those are two things that we haven’t done well early in the season.”

Notes

The start of the game was delayed 56 minutes because of rain. … Prior to the game, Washington made a roster move, signing outfielder Cam Phelts (5-9, 165) to bring its active roster to the limit of 24 players. The 24-year-old Phelts, a switch-hitter from Layton, Utah, is a rookie out of Grambling. He batted .290 this spring with six home runs and 22 stolen bases.

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