Gateway’s Peter Zimmermann rounds third base, following his 19th home run of the season, Friday night at Grizzlies Ballpark in Sauget. (Photo courtesy: Gateway Grizzlies)
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quebec Capitales | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 1 |
| Gateway Grizzlies | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | X | 12 | 12 | 1 |
Cedric Williams
Senior Editor
SAUGET, IL — The Gateway Grizzlies earned their fourth straight overall victory and 11th straight home win, and did so in convincing fashion, with a 12-2 victory over the Québec Capitales, in a battle of Frontier League ballclubs that began the night in first place in their respective divisions.
A crowd of 1,141 witnessed the action on a sweltering Friday night at Grizzlies Ballpark. But it was quite a night of action they saw, as the teams combined for 21 hits (12 by the Grizzlies) and five home runs (three by the home team).
The victory lifted Gateway’s record to 39-23, where it maintains a one-game lead over the Schaumburg Boomers for first place in the Frontier League West, while Québec fell to 39-24, where it now stands in second place in the Frontier League East — one-half game behind the Tri-City Valley Cats, who won their game over the Lake Erie Crushers on Friday night.
Once again, slugging first baseman Peter Zimmermann was the hitting star of the night for the Grizzlies. The native St. Louisan and former University of Missouri star had two hits and five runs batted in on the night, including a booming three-run home run in the bottom of the eighth inning that put an explosive cap on the night’s scoring.
The homer was Zimmermann’s team-leading 19th of the season, and the five RBIs raised his Frontier League-leading total to 74 on the season. Zimmermann is also hitting .377 this year, which is fourth-best in the Frontier League this season.
Gateway got its scoring off to a roaring start in the bottom of the first inning, when it scored four runs off Québec starting Ruben Ramirez (4-2). Zimmermann drove in the first two runs with a double, then scored himself on a double by teammate Kyle Gaedele, who then scored on a two-out single by Mark Vierling.
Québec got two runs back in the second inning on a pair of back-to-back home runs by David Glaude and Kyle Crowl.
But that was as close as the Capitales would get, as the Grizzlies went bombs away the rest of the night, thanks to a pair of two-run homers by Alex Hernandez and Abdiel Diaz, and Zimmermann’s three-run moonshot that might still be flying over the team’s front office building, which sits on the other side of the left field wall at Grizzlies Ballpark.
Gateway starting pitcher Joey Gonzalez (7-6) got the win, after tossing five solid innings and only allowing the two runs on seven hits, while striking out four and walking just one.
Relievers Clint Freeman, Trent Tietz, Alec Whaley, and Brian Eichhorn each tossed one inning of scoreless ball to keep Québec off the board the rest of the night.
The Grizzlies will look to keep their momentum going in the middle game against the Capitales on Saturday night. Carson LaRue will start on the mound for Gateway and face Québec’s Steven Fuentes.
First pitch is scheduled for 6:45 p.m.