Gabe Holt had two hits and three RBIs in the Gateway Grizzlies’ series clinching win over the Washington Wild Things on Friday. (Photo: Ellie Parker)
| Frontier League Baseball | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gateway Grizzlies (2-0) | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 9 | 10 | 0 |
| Washington Wild Things (0-2) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 0 |
WP: Lukas Veinbergs – Gateway LP: Kobe Foster – Washington
Jason Barnes
Special to the Editor
WASHINGTON, PA — The Gateway Grizzlies closed out a two-game sweep of the Washington Wild Things on Friday, in a Frontier League Wild Card round series to advance to the conference finals, which will begin next week.
Gateway won Friday’s matchup 9-4 to earn a two games to none series win over Washington.
The Grizzlies will now face the Schaumburg Boomers in the Frontier League Midwest Conference finals. Games 1 and 2 will be at Schaumburg’s Wintrust Field, with the series beginning on Tuesday, September 9.
Gateway will host Games 3, 4, and if necessary, Game 5, next weekend at Arsenal BG Ballpark in Sauget.
On this Friday, starting pitcher Lukas Veinbergs tossed one of his best games as a pro to lead the Grizzlies. Veinbergs gave up just one run on three hits and two walks, while striking out a playoff-career high 10 in seven innings of magnificent work.
At the plate, Dale Thomas and D.J. Stewart both hit home runs, while Thomas, Gabe Holt, and Mark Shallenberger had two hits apiece. Holt also drove in three runs.
Veinbergs and Washington ace Kobe Foster (0-1) dueled in the opening innings, with just one total baserunner allowed between them in the first two frames.
It was the Grizzlies who struck first in the top of the third. Mark Shallenberger and Edwin Mateo led off with back-to-back singles, and after a sacrifice bunt, Dale Thomas placed an RBI single up the middle, putting the Grizzlies ahead 1-0.
A sacrifice fly by Gabe Holt made the score 2-0 one batter later as Gateway scored first against the Wild Things for the first time in eight head-to-head meetings in 2025.
The Grizzlies would keep scoring in the next three frames as well. D.J. Stewart crushed a solo home run to right-center field in the fourth to make it 3-0, and Thomas would add his second solo shot of the series to left-center field in the fifth for a 4-0 advantage.
Foster would exit after five innings, but Gateway plated two more runs against Regi Grace in the sixth on an RBI single by Shallenberger and an RBI groundout by Mateo, expanding the lead to 6-0.
Veinbergs, meanwhile, almost completely shut down the Wild Things lineup. He recorded scoreless frames in each of the four innings that the Grizzlies scored runs while he was pitching, and ended up letting up just one run on three hits in seven innings to set a new season high, while striking out 10 Washington hitters to mark his second career double-digit strikeout performance and first since his rookie season in 2022.
Armed with a 6-1 lead heading into the eighth, Gateway capped the series with a three-run inning, with Abdiel Diaz swimming around a tag at home plate by Washington catcher Three Hillier on a ground ball to first base by Cole Brannen to make the score 7-1, and Holt knocking in two more runs with a two-out single, giving him five RBIs in the series and three in the game while putting the Grizzlies up 9-1.
Washington would score three times in the ninth inning for the final margin, but Alec Whaley struck out Andrew Czech swinging to end the game and the Wild Things’ season as Gateway won their first playoff series since 2003, setting off the celebration in the Keystone state.
First pitch of Game 1 of the Midwest Conference Finals will be on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m.
2025 FRONTIER LEAGUE MIDWEST CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS
| Date | Time | At | Opponent | Location | Results |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 9, 2025 (Saturday) | 6:30 pm | Away | Schaumburg Boomers | Wintrust Field / Schaumburg, IL | |
| September 10, 2025 (Wednesday) | 6:30 pm | Away | Schaumburg Boomers | Wintrust Field / Schaumburg, IL | |
| September 12, 2025 (Friday) | 7:05 pm | Home | Schaumburg Boomers | Arsenal BG Ballpark | |
| September 13, 2025 (Saturday) | 7:05 pm | Home | Schaumburg Boomers (if necessary) | Arsenal BG Ballpark | |
| September 14, 2025 (Sunday) | 6:05 pm | Home | Schaumburg Boomers (if necessary) | Arsenal BG Ballpark | |
| September 9-14, 2025 | TBD | TBD | Frontier League Divisional Championship Series | TBD | |
| September 16-21, 2025 | TBD | TBD | Frontier League Championship Series | TBD |