The Gateway Grizzlies snapped a five-game losing streak with a 5-2 win over the Ottawa Titans, Sunday afternoon, at Ottawa Stadium. (Photo: Thomas Grove)

Final	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Gateway Grizzlies	0	1	0	2	0	1	0	0	1	5	12	1
Ottawa Titans	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	2	6	1

Cedric Williams
Senior Editor

The Gateway Grizzlies were able to close out their first road trip of the 2022 Frontier League season — a nine-game East Coast trip through New Jersey, Quebec, and Ottawa — with a 5-2 victory, Sunday afternoon, over the Ottawa Titans.

The win put an end to a five-game losing streak for Gateway, which was swept three in a row last week by the Quebec Capitales, then lost the first two games against Ottawa, on what was the team’s first trip to Canada.

Rookie righthander J.P. Williams (1-1) picked up his first win as a Grizzlie, by tossing seven outstanding innings, in which he gave up just two runs on four hits, while striking out five, and walking just one.

Williams faced trouble in the first inning, as Ottawa’s first two batters reached base, but the former Seattle Mariners draft pick got a double play and a soft groundball out to get out of the inning without letting any runners score. After that, Williams found his rhythm and retired 10 of the next 11 Titan batters to get through the fourth inning.

During that time, the Grizzlies grabbed the lead with a run in the second inning, then added to it with two more in the top of the fourth to go up 3-0.

The first run came in on an RBI single by Cam Touchette, which brought in Jay Prather. Run No. 2 scored on an RBI groundout by Josh Goulet, and was followed by an RBI hit by Breland Almadova that scored Touchette.

Ottawa got its two runs in the bottom of the fifth, on a two-run homer by Clay Fisher, but Gateway answered with an RBI single by Jackson Pritchard in the top of the sixth.

Williams left the game with that 4-2 edge, and was followed by relievers John Murphy and Carson Cupo, who each pitched a scoreless inning, to make sure the Grizzlies held on to the lead.

Murphy gave up two hits, but got out of the eighth. And Cupo walked two batters, but got a 6-4-3 double play for the final two outs to end the game to pick up the save.

As a team, Gateway finished the day with 12 hits, led by Touchette, who had three, and Pritchard and Diaz, who each had two.

The Grizzlies, who are now 9-6 on the season, will head back home Sunday evening, before enjoying a day off for the Memorial Day holiday on Monday. The team will be back in action on Tuesday, when it will host the first of three games against the Windy City ThunderBolts.

First pitch that night at GCS Credit Union Ballpark will by 6:45 p.m. Ace starter Brendan Feldmann will get the start for the Grizzlies, while the ThunderBolts will counter with fireballing lefty Kenny Matthews.

Box Score

GATEWAY GRIZZLIES	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB
Breland Almadova cf	5	0	1	1	0	1	0
Trevor Achenbach 2b	4	0	1	1	1	1	1
Clint Freeman 1b	4	0	1	0	1	0	0
Isaac Benard dh	5	0	1	0	0	0	2
Jay Prather 3b	4	1	1	0	0	1	2
Abdiel Diaz ss	4	1	2	0	0	0	0
Cam Touchette lf	4	2	3	1	0	1	1
Jackson Pritchard c	3	1	2	1	0	1	0
Josh Goulet rf	3	0	0	1	0	0	2
JP Williams p	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
John Murphy p	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Carson Cupo p	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Totals	36	5	12	5	2	5	8

BATTING

2B: Trevor Achenbach

RBI: Breland Almadova , Trevor Achenbach , Cam Touchette , Jackson Pritchard , Josh Goulet

Sac: Jackson Pritchard , Josh Goulet

FIELDING

E: Clint Freeman

DP: Trevor Achenbach , Clint Freeman , Abdiel Diaz

OTTAWA TITANS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB
Jackie Urbaez 2b	3	0	0	0	1	2	0
Rodrigo Orozco lf	4	0	3	0	0	0	0
Jason Dicochea c	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
A.J. Wright 3b	4	0	0	0	0	1	2
Jacob Sanford rf	4	0	0	0	0	1	1
Brendon Dadson 1b	3	0	0	0	1	0	1
David Maberry dh	3	0	0	0	1	1	0
Luke Navigato pr	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Will Zimmerman cf	4	1	1	0	0	1	1
Clay Fisher ss	3	1	1	2	0	0	0
Mitsuki Fukuda c	2	0	0	0	0	1	0
Jacob Talamante lf	1	0	1	0	0	0	0
Evan Grills p	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Kyle Serrano p	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Grant Larson p	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Gavin Sonnier p	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Totals	31	2	6	2	3	7	5

BATTING

2B: Rodrigo Orozco

HR: Clay Fisher

RBI: Clay Fisher (2)

FIELDING

E: Rodrigo Orozco

PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR
JP Williams (W, 1-1)	7.0	4	2	2	1	5	1
John Murphy	1.0	2	0	0	0	2	0
Carson Cupo (Sv, 1)	1.0	0	0	0	2	0	0
Totals	9.0	6	2	2	3	7	1

PITCHING

Batters faced: JP Williams (25) , John Murphy (5) , Carson Cupo (4)

Pitches-Strikes: JP Williams (98-63), John Murphy (14-11), Carson Cupo (17-7)

PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR
Evan Grills (L, 1-1)	6.0	9	4	3	1	2	0
Kyle Serrano	1.0	0	0	0	0	1	0
Grant Larson	1.0	1	0	0	0	2	0
Gavin Sonnier	1.0	2	1	1	1	0	0
Totals	9.0	12	5	4	2	5	0

PITCHING

Batters faced: Evan Grills (27) , Kyle Serrano (3) , Grant Larson (4) , Gavin Sonnier (6)

Pitches-Strikes: Evan Grills (82-57), Kyle Serrano (12-7), Grant Larson (21-14), Gavin Sonnier (13-8)

INNINGS	PLAY	V – H
Gateway Grizzlies  2nd	C. Touchette singled up the middle, RBI, advanced to second on the throw; A. Diaz advanced to third; J. Prather scored.	1 – 0
Gateway Grizzlies  4th	J. Goulet grounded out to ss, RBI; C. Touchette advanced to third; A. Diaz scored.	2 – 0
Gateway Grizzlies  4th	B. Almadova singled to right field, RBI; C. Touchette scored.	3 – 0
Ottawa Titans  5th	C. Fisher homered down the lf line, 2 RBI; W. Zimmerman scored.	3 – 2
Gateway Grizzlies  6th	J. Pritchard singled, RBI; C. Touchette scored, unearned.	4 – 2
Gateway Grizzlies  9th	T. Achenbach doubled to center field, RBI; J. Pritchard scored.	5 – 2

Other Information

Location:	Ottawa Stadium — Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Attendance:	1640
Duration:	2:30
Umpires:	Home plate – Clark Morgan , First base – Scott Costello , Third base – Charles Hudson
Weather: 72 degrees – Sunny