Kevin Krause totaled five hits and three RBIs in the Grizzlies’ two wins over Windy City on Wednesday. (Photo courtesy: Gateway Grizzlies)
| Frontier League Baseball – Game 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gateway Grizzlies | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 0 |
| Windy City ThunderBolts | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 |
| Frontier League Baseball – Game 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gateway Grizzlies | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 9 | 0 |
| Windy City ThunderBolts | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 0 |
CRESTWOOD, IL — After having Tuesday’s game postponed due to huge rain in the Chicagoland area, the Gateway Grizzlies were faced with a twi-night doubleheader situation on Wednesday against the Windy City ThunderBolts.
But playing two games in one day didn’t bother the Grizzlies one bit, as the team got stellar pitching performances in both outings and landed a doubleheader sweep over the ThunderBolts with a 3-0 win in Game 1 and a 5-2 victory in Game 2.
Starting pitchers Deylen Miley and Tyler Cornett both had career-high strikeout performances in the two wins. Miley (5-3) and Cornett (4-1) pitched a combined 11 1/3 innings and totaled 22 strikeouts to lead the Grizzlies to the wins.
Game one was a true pitcher’s duel between Miley and Windy City all-star Buddie Pindel (5-4), with neither side blinking until the seventh inning. Pindel struck out six over six-plus innings to hold the Grizzlies at bay, while Miley struck out 12 in six frames, marking his second straight start with his career-best in the category.
Gateway would break the 0-0 deadlock in their final turn at bat. Edwin Mateo led off the frame with a single against Pindel and went to second on a misplay in right field by Brennan Dorighi, putting the lead run in scoring position with no one out. Cole Brannen then reached base on a bunt single, advancing Mateo to third, and forcing Windy City to go away from their ace.
Tyler LaPorte then walked Jack-Thomas Wold to load the bases for Kevin Krause, who came up clutch with a line-drive, go-ahead, two-run single off LaPorte’s glove into center field to make it 2-0 Grizzlies. Gabe Holt would bring in an additional run later in the inning on a sacrifice fly for the final 3-0 score, with Matt Hickey tossing a scoreless seventh for the save as Gateway took the series opener.
In the second game, the Grizzlies scored right away against John Mikolaicyk, as Abdiel Diaz was able to work a leadoff walk, then score all the way from first base on a two-out RBI double by David Maberry, making the score 1-0. Wold led off the second inning with a walk of his own, and stole second before Krause lined an RBI single to left-center field to make it 2-0 Grizzlies.
Brennan Dorighi then hit a game-tying, two-run homer off Cornett in the second inning knot the score, and in the third, Windy City got runners on at second and third base with no one out, putting the lead run 90 feet away. But Cornett put his foot down in emphatic fashion, striking out three batters in a row on just 10 total pitches. He would also strike out the side in the fourth inning en route to a career-best 10 strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings of work.
The right-hander would get the win as well when the Grizzlies rallied against the ThunderBolts’ bullpen. In the sixth, Maberry singled to lead off, and Holt pinch-ran for the DH, moving to second base on a sacrifice by Mateo before Wold put Gateway on top 3-2 with an RBI single. Two batters later, after another Krause hit moved Wold to third base, he scored on a Kyle Gaedele sacrifice fly for a 4-2 lead.
After Leoni De La Cruz got out of a jam with the tying runs on base in the sixth, Gateway increased their lead to 5-2 in the top of the seventh when Holt singled home Diaz with two outs from second base. De La Cruz would pick up the save in the bottom half, striking out Thomas Rodriguez representing the tying run for the 24th and final Gateway strikeout of the day to sweep the two games from Windy City.
Now 30-22 on the season, the Grizzlies will look to sweep the three-game series in Chicagoland on Thursday, July 11, at 6:35 p.m. Collin Sullivan will take the mound for Gateway in the series finale opposite Windy City’s Will Armbruester at Ozinga Field.
UPCOMING GATEWAY GRIZZLIES BASEBALL GAMES
| Date | Time | At | Opponent | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 11, 2024 (Thursday) | 6:35 pm | Away | Windy City ThunderBolts | Ozinga Field / Crestwood, IL |
| July 12, 2024 (Friday) | 6:30 pm | Home | Joliet Slammers | Grizzlies Ballpark / Sauget, IL |
| July 13, 2024 (Saturday) | 6:30 pm | Home | Joliet Slammers | Grizzlies Ballpark / Sauget, IL |
| July 14, 2024 (Sunday) | 5:30 pm | Home | Joliet Slammers | Grizzlies Ballpark / Sauget, IL |
| July 17, 2024 (Wednesday) | 6:30 pm | Neutral | Frontier League All-Star Game | Stade Canac / Québec City, Canada |
| July 19, 2024 (Friday) | 6:30 pm | Away | Schaumburg Boomers | Wintrust Field / Schaumburg, IL |
| July 20, 2024 (Saturday) | 6:30 pm | Away | Schaumburg Boomers | Wintrust Field / Schaumburg, IL |
| July 21, 2024 (Sunday) | 1:00 pm | Away | Schaumburg Boomers | Wintrust Field / Schaumburg, IL |
| July 23, 2024 (Tuesday) | 6:35 pm | Away | Joliet Slammers | Duly Health and Care Field / Joliet, IL |
| July 24, 2024 (Wednesday) | 6:35 pm | Away | Joliet Slammers | Duly Health and Care Field / Joliet, IL |
| July 25, 2024 (Thursday) | 6:35 pm | Away | Joliet Slammers | Duly Health and Care Field / Joliet, IL |