Wild Things Sign Winning Pitcher of 2024 NCAA Men's CWS Deciding Game, Zander Sechrist
FL Washington Wild Things

Wild Things Sign Winning Pitcher of 2024 NCAA Men's CWS Deciding Game, Zander Sechrist

Published on March 30, 2026 under Frontier League (FL)
Washington Wild Things News Release


WASHINGTON, Pa. - With under a month until the start of spring training for the 2026 season, the Wild Things have made a splash for their pitching staff with the signing of former Minnesota farmhand and College World Series hero Zander Sechrist, a left-handed pitcher who most recently appeared in the Arizona Fall League for the Twins organization.

Sechrist pitched in seven fall-league games and worked 7.1 innings out of the bullpen. He allowed only two earned runs on six hits with four strikeouts. That work came following up a 2025 summer in which he pitched for the Class-A affiliate of the Twins, the Fort Myers Mighty Mussels. He was 4-5 with Fort Myers and sported a 300 ERA ion 36 appearances out of the bullpen. He saved two games and finished 13 total affairs. Over 69.0 innings, he walked only 20, struck out 58 and allowed 62 hits.

The Georgia native pitched four seasons for the Vols at Tennessee, capping his career with a tremendous 2024. He was 6-1 with a 3.12 ERA in 20 games, 19 of which were starts. In 78 innings, he walked just 16 and struck out 76 to go with a WHIP (walks and hits per inning pitched) of 1.179. He spun 6.1 innings of one-run ball with seven tickets punched in Game 3 of the College World Series Finals against Texas A&M to help lead the Vols to the first national title in program history. He allowed two runs over a career-high-tying 6.1 innings in a win over Florida State that season to send UT to the CWS Championship Series for the first time since 1951. Sechrist was named to the CWS All-Tournament Team.

In 2023, he was 0-1 with a 2.05 ERA in 23 games (12 starts) for the Vols and fanned 32 against five walks in 30.2 innings of work. The previous season he was 4-0 with a 1.67 ERA in 17 games (11 starts) and struck out 46 against seven walks in 43 innings of work. That season as a sophomore he allowed only 27 hits and eight runs. As a freshman in 2021 he made eight relief appearances and in 9.1 innings struck out 11 against one walk. His ERA was 2.89. For his UT career, he was 12-2 with a 2.52 ERA in 68 games (42 starts) and struck out 165 in 161 innings with only 29 walks.

He also pitched two seasons for Gainesville in the Sunbelt Baseball League, starting nine games combined and allowing 10 runs (nine earned) over 44.1 innings of work. In the summer of 2023, he pitched in the Cape Cod League, making seven appearances.

Sechrist signed as an undrafted free agent in July of 2024 and did not pitch the rest of that summer for the Twins. Perfect Game ranked Sechrist the No. 90 player in Georgia during his time in high school at Flowery Branch. He was a 2020 Perfect Game Preseason All-America and All-Southeast Region selection, a two-time Perfect Game Preseason Underclass All-America selection (2018, 2019), a selection to multiple All-Tournament teams and was given numerous other honors. He posted a 1.60 ERA with 252 strikeouts in 188.2 innings pitched during his high school career.

Sechrist also asked the team to include that he is a very passionate fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers when the club announced his signing.

The 24th season of Wild Things baseball in the MLB-partnered Frontier League begins Friday, May 7 on the road and at home with the homer opener scheduled for Friday, May 15 against the Schaumburg Boomers at EQT Park. For updates, other information and more, visit washingtonwildthings.com or follow the team on social media at facebook.com/WashingtonWildThings or @WashWildThings on other platforms. Single game tickets are available now and the club's promo schedule has been released. You can buy tickets.

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Frontier League Stories from March 30, 2026


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