Leftovers

Some Tuesday night leftovers before baseball for breakfast Wednesday morning:

* Wild Things manager Bart Zeller was happy that outfielder Stewart Ijames and second baseman C.J. Beatty were voted in as starters for the Frontier League All-Star game that will be played July 17 at Consol Energy Park, and added that Washington has several other players who are deserving to be added to the East squad when the rosters are completed Thursday.

"I think both Ijames and Beatty are well-deserving. They are two of the hardest workers you can find on our club," Zeller said. "They're always doing extra hitting, trying to improve.

"Ijames is a silent leader on this club. Every manager I talk to says he's one of the best rookie hitters in this league. And Beatty, he amazes me with some of the shots he hits.

"I think we could have some other guys who can get those final spots on the all-star team," he continued. "Jim Vahalik is one. He never takes a play off. He battles all the time. He's put together some good offensive games lately and he's thrown out of good percentage of base stealers. You can make an excellent case for him.

"You also can make a case for Jovan Rosa. He's hitting over .300, and there's not many third baseman in this league hitting .300. And there are several pitchers who could have made the team if we hadn't gone into a funk."

* During their recent road trip to Gateway and Evansville, the Wild Things played before crowds totaling 24,848 over the six games. That's an average of 4,142 per game -- about 2,400 more than what the Wild Things are drawing per game at home. Two of the games drew more than 7,000 fans.

"You love to play in front of crowds like that," Zeller said. "There's something electric about playing in front of that many people."

* Lake Erie manager Jeff Isom, who was the Wild Things' original manager in 2002, said the turning point in that season was when Washington signed outfielder Josh Loggins just before the all-star break. Loggins' hitting helped propel the Wild Things to the East Division title.

Isom also said that with so many teams in the East being closely bunched in the standings this year, one key pickup could be what pushes a club into the postseason. While it's unlikely that Craig Hertler will have the kind of impact with the Crushers that Loggins had for the 2002 Wild Things, the utility player and lead off hitter does improve Lake Erie. Hertler, who went 3-for-5 with a run scored and had the game-winning two-run single Tuesday in the Crushers' 4-2 victory, was traded from Schaumburg to Lake Erie last week.

"We needed someone at the top of the lineup," Isom said. "If you look at the stats, we were last in walks drawn. We needed someone at the top to take walks, get on base and at least see a few pitches because that's one thing we don't do well."

Zeller also was talking about the top of his batting order Tuesday. He pointed out that the top two spots in his lineup went 0-for-8, which has continued a recent trend. Over the last 15 games, during which Washington has a 5-10 record, the players in the No. 1 spot in the batting order have hit .212 (11-for-52) and the No. 2 spot is hitting only .164 (9-for-55).