Peter Zimmermann hit his team-leading 14th home run of the season in the Grizzlies’ win over the Joliet Slammers on Thursday. (Photo: Thomas Grove)
| Frontier League Baseball | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gateway Grizzlies | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 8 | 2 |
| Joliet Slammers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 1 |
JOLIET, IL — The Gateway Grizzlies finished off a fantastic 5-1 Chicagoland road trip on Thursday by completing a three-game sweep over the Joliet Slammers. Gateway won both games of a doubleheader on Wednesday, then rallied from a late 1-0 deficit by scoring one run in the seventh inning to tie and four more in the top of the 10th to defeat Joliet 5-1 on Thursday.
The three wins over the Slammers, combined with winning two of three over the Schaumburg Boomers last weekend, gave the Grizzlies a 5-1 record on their road trip and moved Gateway’s overall season record to 37-25. The Grizzlies are now a season-best 12 games over .500 and sit in third place in the Frontier League West Division, four games behind first place Washington and just a half-game behind second place Lake Erie.
In Thursday’s matchup, neither offense could do much against the other team’s ace starter.
Gateway could only manage two hits through the first six innings off Joliet starter Geno Encina and trailed 1-0, after Joliet’s Matthew Warkentin hit a solo homer off Gateway starter Deylen Miley. But that was all the Slammers could get off Miley, the Frontier League leader in strikeouts, who went six innings and gave up just the one run on four hits, with two walks and nine strikeouts.
The Grizzlies were able to tie the score on the second pitch of the seventh inning, when slugger Peter Zimmermann bashed a 447-foot bomb off Encina, for his team-leading 14th homer of the season to make the score 1-1.
Both bullpens then held serve for the rest of regulation, sending the contest to the tenth and the International Tiebreaker, where Gateway pounced on Cameron Smith (1-1). Edwin Mateo reached on a bunt single to send Gaedele, the automatic runner, to third base.
Cole Brannen then ripped an RBI single to right field to make it 2-1 Grizzlies. Jose Alvarez then sacrificed the speedy runners to second and third with a bunt for the first out of the inning, and Abdiel Diaz hit a ground ball to the right side, with Mateo beating Valdez’s throw home to make it a 3-1 game.
On the very next pitch, Holt lined a double to the left-center field wall, scoring both Brannen and Diaz for what turned out to be the final 5-1 margin, as Leoni De La Cruz finished off the game with a scoreless bottom of the tenth, giving Gateway a huge victory to close out their successful road trip.
Gateway has now won games in a row and six of seven, dating back to their final game before the all-star break. The Grizzlies will now return home for what should be a fun week of games at Grizzlies Ballpark, beginning with a three-game set against Schaumburg on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
First pitch for the Friday and Saturday games is set for 6:30 p.m., while Sunday’s contest will begin at 5:30. Once the weekend is over, the Grizzlies will then play a three-game series against the New Jersey Jackals on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.
UPCOMING GATEWAY GRIZZLIES BASEBALL GAMES
| Date | Time | At | Opponent | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 26, 2024 (Friday) | 6:30 pm | Home | Schaumburg Boomers | Grizzlies Ballpark / Sauget, IL |
| July 27, 2024 (Saturday) | 6:30 pm | Home | Schaumburg Boomers | Grizzlies Ballpark / Sauget, IL |
| July 28, 2024 (Sunday) | 5:30 pm | Home | Schaumburg Boomers | Grizzlies Ballpark / Sauget, IL |
| July 30, 2024 (Tuesday) | 6:30 pm | Home | New Jersey Jackals | Grizzlies Ballpark / Sauget, IL |
| July 31, 2024 (Wednesday) | 6:30 pm | Home | New Jersey Jackals | Grizzlies Ballpark / Sauget, IL |
| August 1, 2024 (Thursday) | 6:30 pm | Home | New Jersey Jackals | Grizzlies Ballpark / Sauget, IL |