Gateway Grizzlies slugger Chase Vallot talks with third base coach James Keller during Wednesday night’s Frontier League game against the Windy City ThunderBolts at GCS Credit Union Ballpark in Sauget. (Photo: Cedric Williams)

by Cedric Williams
Senior Editor

SAUGET, IL — For eight innings Wednesday night at GCS Credit Union Ballpark, the Gateway Grizzlies’ pitching was fantastic. The Grizzlies gave up just three hits to the visiting Windy City ThunderBolts and led 2-1 after eight innings.

Starting pitcher Geoff Bramblett was just brilliant. He allowed the one run on just two hits in a dominant seven inning appearance.  And reliever Colton Easterwood struck out two batters in his one inning of work.

Gateway was just three outs away from what would’ve been the Grizzlies’ third win in a row and their fifth in their last six games.

But then the ninth inning came, and rookie reliever Carter Hayes had one of his toughest outings of the season, as he walked two batters and gave up two hits, including a three-run home run that blew Gateway’s lead and gave Windy City a 4-2 come-from-behind victory.

The loss was a tough one to swallow, as Gateway seemed to be in control most of the night.

And most of that was due to Bramblett’s pitching.

The fourth-year pro from Hoover, Ala., who began his career in the Kansas City Royals organization, not only held Windy City to just one run on two hits, he struck out seven and only walked one batter to keep the ThunderBolts bats silent.

Along with the strong pitching, Bramblett got some help, thanks to a couple of baserunning mistakes made by Windy City. Both happened in a wild top of the fifth inning.

Windy City’s Rob Weissheiser led off with a double that clanged off the top of the centerfield wall. Then, after advancing to third on a groundout, Weissheiser got thrown out trying to score on a hard hit groundball to short.

Gateway’s Justin Jones fielded the ball cleanly and fired to the plate, where catcher Chase Vallot tagged Weissheiser out with ease.

Then later in the inning, Windy City’s Donovan Williams was at second base with two outs, and for some reason, he just took off for third.

He must’ve thought Bramblett wasn’t paying attention. But he was, and he simply stepped off the rubber and threw the ball to third baseman Abdiel Diaz, who tagged Williams out before he got anywhere near third base.

The ThunderBolts just ran themselves out of that inning and it looked like that might be their best and final chance to tie the game.

Bramblett got all the batters out he faced in the sixth and seventh innings and left the game with the lead. Easterwood hit a batter and gave up an infield single in the eighth, but he also struck out two batters and got a lazy pop up to short to get of the inning unscathed.

Gateway got its runs in the second inning, when Vallot and Jay Prather both drew one-out walks and advanced to second and third, respectively, on a wild pitch.

Connor Owings drove in the first Grizzlie run with a groundout and Justin Jones drilled a single to right to put Gateway up 2-1.

That lead held until the ninth, when Hayes walked two of the first three batters he faced, then gave up a soul-crushing three-run homer to Jace Mercer that put Windy City up 4-2.

Mercer is a rookie from Cincinnati, who just signed with the ThunderBolts last Friday and was playing in just his fifth game as a professional ballplayer.

In the bottom of the ninth, Ty Moore singled with one out to bring the tying run to the plate. But Windy City closer Brayden Bonner slammed the door shut, with a strikeout and a soft fly out to end the game.

The loss dropped Gateway’s overall record to 33-40, while Windy City raised its record to 34-40. The ThunderBolts are in third place in the Frontier League’s Central Division, five games behind first place Schaumburg.

The two clubs will play the third and final game of this three-game set, Thursday night at GCS. Veteran lefthander Kenny Matthews (5-8) is expected to start for Windy City, while Gateway will begin the game with rookie righthander Jorge Tavarez (6-4) on the mound.

First pitch is scheduled for 6:45 p.m.