Cincinnati native Reggie Watson homered leading off the 10th inning Tuesday night to lift the visiting Florence Freedom to a 5-4 victory over the Washington Wild Things at CONSOL Energy Park in Washington, Pa.

Watson’s second homer of the season came off Washington right-handed reliever Ian Heisel (1-1) who had not allowed a home run this season in his first 17 innings pitched. The win enabled the Freedom to split the two-game series with the Wild Things and it was their first victory over the East Division leaders in six tries overall.

Left-hander Jon Troop (1-0) capped off a night of outstanding relief pitching for the Freedom, earning the win after working the final 2 1/3 innings. Troop combined with fellow relievers Jason Bennion (4 1/3 innings, 0 runs, 2 hits) and Mark Janszen (1/3 inning, 1 strikeout) to shut out the Wild Things over the final seven innings. Washington scored three times in the fourth off starter Bill Konecny to tie the game at 4-4. Konecny had cruised through the first three innings in his first appearance with Florence, allowing only a first-inning solo homer to Washington left fielder Matt Sutton.

Both Konecny and Janszen pitched this past spring for Xavier University. Janszen, who fanned Washington cleanup batter Nathan Messner with a runner at second and one out in the eighth set the stage for Troop’s late-inning heroics. Janszen, a former Cincinnati Elder High star, has yet to give up an earned run this season in four appearances.

Watson entered play Tuesday night with a .384 batting average, seventh best in the Frontier League. He tacked on a single and a walk in addition to his home run. The former Indiana University star is batting .476 over his past 10 games.

Former Covington Catholic star Tim Grogan, in his first season as the Freedom third baseman, collected a double, a single and scored a run for the Florence offense. Designated hitter Joe Holland continued his clutch hitting with a pair of RBIs.

Former Ryle High School standout Dan Guttridge, in his rookie season as the right fielder of the Freedom, had to leave the game in the second inning when he was hit in the face by a pitch from Wild Things starting pitcher Justin Staatz. Guttridge appeared to be in good condition when he was helped off the field. He appeared alert and conscious as he was being attended to near home plate. No other reports were available at press time.

The Freedom now return home at 7:05 p.m. EDT Wednesday to begin a six-game home stand. The Central Division-leading Windy City Thunderbolts provide the opposition in the first three games of the home stand. Florence will send right-hander Dane Mason (2-2) to the mound against the Thunderbolts on Wednesday.