Randy Gore's 96-game regular season with the Washington Wild Things is nearing the end.

It's his third year with this independent minor-league baseball team and, like many in the league, he still dreams of signing a contract with a major-league affiliated minor-league team.

If Gore does somehow succeed, it won't be because of a hot bat, or a blazing fastball, or his running speed.

Gore, 28, a 1997 McKeesport Area High School graduate who currently resides in Houston, is hoping his voice can take him places. A 2001 Waynesburg College graduate, he is the main play-by-play announcer for the Washington Wild Things.

His broadcasts are heard over WJPA (95.3 FM, 1450 AM ) and four other Wild Things' network affiliates (stations in Uniontown, Brownsville and two in Wheeling).

"This year may be my year," said Gore. "You never know. Just like the players, you keep on trying. In the radio business, you have to get lucky.

Gore finds hope in the travels of Chad Cooper, who last year was doing play-by-play for the Frontier League's Traverse City (Mich.) Beach Bums, but is now the voice of the Vero Beach Devil Rays, a Class A affiliate of Tampa Bay.

For Washington Wild Things home games, Gore shares the play-by-play duties with fellow WJPA announcers Bob Gregg and Mark Uriah. But when the Wild Things hit the road, Gore travels on the bus with the players and does the broadcasts solo.

Some of those bus rides to places such as O'Fallon, Mo. (River City Rascals) and Sauget, Ill. (Gateway Grizzlies) are 12-hour rides. Gore said the long treks are a good place to get to know the players and add material to the broadcasts.

Gore said his three years of experience have made him a better baseball broadcaster. He said he knows a lot more about the league and the players and is smoother than when he started.

"There's nothing more valuable than experience," he said. "The more you do, the better you get."

Said Gregg, WJPA's sports director, "[Randy] has improved a lot. I do see the possibility [of moving up]."

Besides being the flagship station for Wild Things baseball during the team's first six seasons in the Frontier League, WJPA also broadcasts high school football, basketball, wrestling, baseball and softball. Add to that Washington & Jefferson College football and the PONY League World Series.

Gore is involved in some of those broadcasts and also does work in the WJPA news department.

Unlike most of the other Frontier League teams that hire and are in charge of their broadcasters, WJPA is completely in charge of Wild Things' broadcasts. And Gregg is very proud of the job his staff does.

"We do a big-league broadcast with a minor league baseball team," said Gregg, 47. "I'm not going to shy away from saying that. We have a big-league broadcast crew."

Gregg said among Gore's top attributes as a baseball broadcaster are his "energy, excitement and understanding of the game."

Gore said that if you're going to be a broadcaster in the Frontier League, Washington is probably the best place to be because of superior facilities and the way the organization treats everyone from players on down.

Gore said if he doesn't land a broadcast job with a major-league affiliated minor-league team, he'll most likely be back with the Wild Things next season.

"It's hard not to like watching baseball for three hours and getting paid for it," said Gore.