Saturday night leftovers

Some observations, quotes and notes from the Wild Things' 2-1 loss to the River City Rascals Saturday night:

* The 4 2/3 innings of relief Washington's Kevin Hammons, pictured, threw was his longest outing since a five-inning start for Gateway in 2008. Hammons did not play play pro ball last season.

In 2007, Hammons played in the Florida Marlins' system with Jamestown of the New-York Penn League. His manager there was current Wild Things manager Darin Everson. Hammons had a 3-0 record and 3.63 ERA in 12 games for Jamestown.

When Hammons informed all Frontier League teams this past offseason through an email that he was returning to baseball and looking for a team, Everson suggested the lefty attend the Wild Things' invitation-only tryout in April. Everson liked what he saw.

"He was way more athletic and a lot more confident than he was in 2007," Everson said.

Against River City, Hammons allowed three hits and one run. He did not walk a batter and struck out three.

"He's been pitching great for us, but he was even better tonight," Everson said. "He showed us something."

* Josh Lowey was the winning pitcher and his identical twin brother Jason earned a save. However, the most-important inning by River City pitchers was thrown by reliever Derrick Miramontes, who tossed the eighth. Miramontes, a side-armer who seemed to be releasing his pitches from somewhere in the left-field party deck, faced Washington's 3-4-5 hitters while protecting a 2-1 lead. He struck out Mark McGonigle, got Adam Amar to ground out deep into the shortstop hole and Jacob Dempsey to pop out on a changeup.

Miramontes received no win, no save but plenty of handshakes from teammates for a job well done.

* River City manager Steve Brook on the water-logged condition of Consol Energy Park's outfield:

"You never know in game played in conditions like this if it's going to be a high-scoring game or a pitchers' duel. Playing in conditions like this, with puddles all over the outfield, you get balls stopping instead of rolling. The first run we scored might have been helped by the conditions. The ball (hit by Stephen Holdren) took a bit of a sideways bounce in the outfield. Strange things happen when you play in these conditions."

River City's first run crossed home plate when Stephen Holdren doubled to left centerfield, scoring Scott Robinson from first base.

* I'll expand on this in a later post, but Washington needs to sign another veteran to its roster. Vets – the Frontier league allows three per team – are guys who should carry your team. The Wild Things are playing with only two vets (Chris Sidick and Jacob Dempsey). Washington picked up a vet hitter in late-June of 2002 when they signed Josh Loggins. The move helped propel the Wild Things to the playoffs that year and Loggins was the league's MVP in 2003.

There will be affiliated players released after next week's first-year player draft, so maybe the Wild Things can find an impact vet.