Gateway’s Peter Zimmermann bashed two home runs in the Grizzlies’ 15-1 win, Monday night at Grizzlies Ballpark. (Photo courtesy: Gateway Grizzlies)
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Florence Y’alls | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| Gateway Grizzlies | 3 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | X | 15 | 16 | 0 |
Steve Millbrook
Staff Writer
Sauget, IL — Hours after learning it had a league-high seven players voted to this year’s All-Star Team, the Gateway Grizzlies looked like an all-star team all on its own, as it floored the visiting Florence Y’alls for a 15-1 win, Monday night at Grizzlies Ballpark.
An energetic crowd of 6,712 saw Gateway jump on top of Florence early, and then never let up, as the Grizzlies scored 10 runs in the first three innings, then added five more in the sixth to cruise to its league-best 28th win of the season. Gateway is 28-16 on the year, and owns a 1 1/2 game lead over the second place Schaumburg Boomers. The third place Evansville Otters are 2 1/2 games behind the Grizzlies.
On Monday, Gateway was led by several of its all-stars, including leadoff man Gabe Holt, who had three hits, scored three runs, and drove in two runs. No. 3 hitter Peter Zimmermann had two hits and five RBIs, while D.J. Stewart had two hits, scored two runs, and also had an RBI.
The Grizzlies hit five home runs on Monday. Zimmermann, who leads the Frontier League with 63 RBIs, hit his 15th and 16th homers of the year, while Holt, who leads the league in batting average (.435), hit his fourth homer of the year.
Teammates Alex Hernandez and Eric Rivera also bashed shots over the fence, marking the 10th time this year Gateway had hit four or more home runs in a single game.
Hernandez’s homer was his first of the season, while Rivera’s was his fourth — a three-run shot in the sixth inning, that closed out the night’s scoring.
Starting pitcher Joey Gonzalez (4-5) also had a dominant night for the Grizzlies. The righthander pitched seven innings and allowed just three hits and three walks, while giving up only one run to pick up his fourth win of the season.
Gateway and Florence will matchup again on Tuesday in Game 2 of their series. Lukas Veinbergs will start for the Grizzlies, while Jake McMahill will start for the Y’alls. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.