By: Braeden Jones
JOLIET, IL – Consistent scoring from Washington early on was not enough as the Slammers clutched out a 9-8 win on Sunday.
The Wild Things (2-2) started this game like any other this series by getting on the board early with an Andrew Czech two-run homer at the top of the 1st inning to take a 2-0 lead.
Joliet (1-2) starting pitcher Shaun Gamelin didn’t have much luck in the next few innings either, as Washington’s Ryan Ford boomed a two-run shot in the top of the 2nd inning, Czech and Cole Fowler each had an RBI hit in the top of the 3rd, and Caleb Ketchup had a two-run home run in the top of the 4th.
During the Wild Things’ continuous charge, the Slammers finally gained some life as Josh Phillips had an RBI single that was immediately followed by a three-run homer courtesy of Blake Berry. That gave his team a four-run inning in the bottom of the 3rd.
Joliet didn’t stop there, however, as they scored two more in the bottom of the 4th and watched Cam Suto smoke one deep for a two-run homer in the bottom of the 5th inning, bringing the total score to 8-8 after five innings.
Both teams were at a standstill after that, as the backup pitchers for both the Slammers and Wild Things did their jobs and kept the 6th inning scoreless.
But finally, Berry broke through in the bottom of the 7th with a solo home run to give the Slammers a 9-8 lead.
The Wild Things needed something big after that, but Slammers relief pitcher Ty Rybarczyk gave Washington no room to breathe. After walking Czech in the top of the 8th inning, Rybarczyk allowed no other batters to reach first base and capped off the day with two strikeouts to end the game, leaving the Slammers ahead for the 9-8 victory.
After squeaking out their first win of the 2026 season, Joliet will finally hit the road and head to Sauget to face the Gateway Grizzlies in a three-game series at Arsenal BG Ballpark starting Tuesday, May 12th. Washington will stay on the road and play the Evansville Otters at Bosse Field for a two-game series, starting Tuesday, May 12th.
