Gateway rookie pitcher Parker Johnson picked up his first win as a professional player in the Grizzlies’ 11-0 win Friday night against Lake Erie. (Photo: Thomas Grove)

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Steven Millbrook
Staff Writer

Avon, OH — The Gateway Grizzlies scored early and often Friday night, and got a terrific pitching effort from Parker Johnson, on their way to an 11-0 win over the host Lake Erie Crushers at Mercy Health Stadium.

The win, the club’s 50th of the season, lowered Gateway’s magic number to clinching a spot in the 2023 Frontier League Playoffs down to four with 15 games remaining.

Jairus Richards, Eric Rivera, and Andrew Pinner each had two hits, and Cole Brannen had three, along with two RBIs and two runs scored to lead the Grizzlies offense. Richards led off the game with his 13th home run of the season to get Gateway going and the Frontier League West Division leaders never looked back.

Later in the first, Brannen tripled, and then scored on the throw to first base when Mark Vierling struck out to make it 2-0.

As it turned out, those two runs would’ve been enough because Johnson (1-3), the rookie righthander from Anchorage, Alaska, who pitched at Western Oregon and was making just his fourth professional start, tossed seven shutout innings and allowed just four hits, while striking out nine and walking none.

Teammates Nate Garkow and Trevor Tietz capped off the night with perfect innings in the eighth and ninth to get the Grizzlies their third shutout victory of the season.

Gateway’s offense added two runs in the fourth on RBI singles by Rivera and Cole Barr, then scored two more runs in the seventh on a balk by Perry Bewley and an RBI single by Brannen.

The Grizzlies busted the game open in the eighth by scoring five more times off Brayden Bonner on just two hits, drawing four walks and one hit batter off the Crushers’ reliever.

Brannen and Kyle Gaedele drew the base-on-balls with the bases loaded to force in two of the runs, with Vierling and D.J. Stewart combining their singles to drive in the remaining three as the Grizzlies won going away.

Gateway remains 2.0 games up on the Schaumburg Boomers and will look for its third win a row in game two against Lake Erie on Saturday, August 19. Collin Sullivan (10-3), the Frontier League leader in wins will start for the Grizzlies, while Darien Ragans (4-4) will start for the Crushers.

First pitch at Mercy Health Stadium is set for 5:05 p.m.