It takes all kinds to properly educate at a University. On Tuesday night it was Joash Brodin’s turn to take the lectern at Wingnuts University as he provided a lesson on the history of a guy who returns to the roots of his people to lead them to victory. That gave the Wichita Wingnuts a 6-4 win over the Sioux Falls Canaries.

The Wingnuts have been in a rare funk of late. Loses in five of their last six games has led manager Kevin Hooper to make some adjustments to his club’s roster and batting order, and Tuesday night saw Brodin in the No. 5 spot in the order. Hooper needed a big night from someone and Brodin proved to be king on this contest.

For those who are Biblical history buffs, Joash was the King of Judah who turned away from the wicked ways of others, and committed himself and the nation to the ways that they had been given by God. In this contest this Joash dedicated himself to the Wingnuts way of playing baseball, and led his club to the kind of victory that fans have become accustomed to over the last few seasons.

Scott Richmond squared off against Jeremy Strawn. In what will likely be Richmond’s last start before heading to play for the Canadian national team for a month, Richmond kept the Canaries off the scoreboard for the first three innings. Using the full array of pitches in his arsenal, the right-hander retired the first nine batters he faced, in order.

Strawn was looking nearly as good through the first two innings, but in the third he got himself into a bit of trouble. The Sioux Falls starter retired the first two batters of the inning, but then gave up a double to TJ Mittelstaedt and walked John Nester to put two on with two outs. Matt Padgett followed with a single that scored Mittelstaedt, which brought the hitting king to the plate. He took the first two pitches for balls, then ripped the 2-0 pitch for his third home run of the year. The three-run homer made it 4-0.

The four-runs appeared to be plenty by the way that Richmond was pitching but he, too, had his one bad inning that changed the complexion of the game. In the bottom of the fourth the Wichita Wingnuts starter gave up back-t0-back singles to Chris Grayson and Jerome Pena to begin the inning. Two batters later American Association Player of the Week David Bergin doubled, bringing both runners home. A double by Michael Wing scored Bergin, and Wing came home on a single by RJ Perucki. The four-run lead was now a tie game.

It would remain tied until the top of the sixth with Wichita would retake the lead. Brodin doubled to begin the inning, but was thrown out on a fielder’s choice trying to advance on a ball hit by Brent Dean. That put Dean at first with one out. Dean stole second base and two batters later scored on a single by Luis Hernandez that made it 5-4.

In the eighth the visitors would add an insurance run, and it was Brodin at the heart of the rally again. With one out the Wingnuts center fielder lined a double to the wall, and came around to score on a base hit by Dean. That made it 6-4.

Richmond left after six innings, turning the game over to his bullpen, which came up huge. Daniel Bennett pitched a perfect seventh, as did Al Yevoli in the eighth. Bennett struck out one and Yevoli two. In the ninth the club turned to Daniel Carela to close out the game. He gave up a single, but struck out the side for his first save of the season. Richmond (1-1) earned his first win. Strawn (2-5) took the loss.

Brodin finished the game 3-4 with 2 runs and 3 RBI. Dean had 2 hits, a run and an RBI. Bergin was 3-4 for the Canaries.

Boxscore Provided by the American Association

By Robert Pannier