Wild ending

Because of an early deadline Tuesday night at the Observer-Reporter, I had some leftover items from a wild finish to Washington's 6-5 victory over the Kalamazoo Kings.

If you missed it, the Wild Things won when Kalamazoo attempted a double steal with runners on the corners and one out in the top of the ninth inning. With a 3-2 count on batter Destan Makonnen, pinch-runner Bryan Marquez attempted to swipe second base. Makonnen struck out swinging on a pitch from Washington reliever Justin Edwards and catcher Alan Robbins tried to throw out Marquez. With the Kings' Joseph Ramos breaking from third base and trying to score, shortstop Brett Grandstrand cut off Robbins' throw between the pitcher's mound and second base.

Grandstrand's throw back to Robbins was low. Robbins, however, was able to gain control of the baseball and, while still on his knees, take a big hit from Ramos. Robbins held onto the ball for the final out.

That is the way the play was originally supposed to work when Makonnen stepped into the batter's box to face Edwards. Robbins, however, wanted to change the plan during a meeting at the mound later in the at-bat.

"I think that's the first time that play has worked all year," Robbins said. "I told the infielders, with a full count, I'll just try to throw the guy out at second base."

When Grandstrand cut off Robbins' throw he wasn't sure if the catcher was expecting a return throw to home.

"Granny double-clutched on the throw because he thought Robbins was looking somewhere else," Washington manager Mark Mason said. "That's why the throw was low."

"It short-hopped me," Robbins said. "I was able to scoop it off the ground right as (Ramos) hit me. If he would have slid, then he probably would have scored. I knew he was out. When you try to run the catcher over and he hangs onto the ball, then you're usually out. You're making the tag for him."

- Paid attendance was only 1,933, the third-smallest crowd for a home game in Wild Things history.

- Is this the final homestand on a grass field at Consol Energy Park? Bids have been submitted and representatives from six synthetic turf companies were at CEP last week checking out the dimensions of the playing surface.

However, a final decision on when to install the turf had not been made as of Tuesday afternoon. The Wild Things' owners met last night and the turf situation was one of the topics.

Turf companies require at least six weeks to install a field, and work can't be done when the ground is in a freezing-and-thawing mode. California University begins its schedule at CEP early in the spring, so the only time to install a turf field is in the fall. Work likely will have to start by early October, which means the Wild Things have little time to secure bank funding, if needed. The money coming from the motel tax is spread over 10 years, so the Wild Things must generate some up-front money, either through a bank loan or out-of-pocket. These turf companies generally like to be paid in full when installing their product. They're funny about that.