Grizzlies slugger Peter Zimmermann (30) celebrates hitting a walkoff home run with teammates Clint Freeman (7) and Andrew Penner (2), following Wednesday’s 7-6 win over Windy City. (Photo courtesy: Gateway Grizzlies)
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Windy City ThunderBolts | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 11 | 2 |
| Gateway Grizzlies | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 14 | 1 |
Steven Millbrook
Staff Writer
SAUGET, IL — It was an intense night of back-to-back comebacks at Grizzlies Ballpark, Wednesday night.
First, the host Gateway Grizzlies rallied from a 4-0 deficit to tie the game, then take a 5-4 lead into the eighth inning. Then the visiting Windy City ThunderBolts answered by scoring two runs in the top of the ninth to take a 6-5 lead.
But the final dramatic finish belonged to the Grizzlies, who got a monster two-run walkoff home run from slugger Peter Zimmermann in the bottom of the ninth, to pull off a thrilling 7-6 win over the ThunderBolts.
The long-range bomb over the left field wall by Zimmermann was his team-leading 18th homer of the season, and helped move him into sole possession of the Frontier League lead with 69 RBIs. Zimmermann had four hits and three RBIs in the game.
The victory also allowed Gateway to maintain sole possession of first place in the Frontier League West Division with a 37-23 record. The Schaumburg Boomers remain in second place with a 36-24 mark.
On Wednesday, Windy City got on the board first thanks to back-to-back solo home runs off Lukas Veinbergs in the top of the third inning by Paul Coumoulos and Junior Martina, then doubled the lad to 4-0 on two-out RBI hits by Matt Morgan and Coumoulos again.
The Grizzlies were able to get on the board in the bottom of that same inning when a pickoff throw by Windy City starter Logan Schmitt got away for an error at first base, scoring Zimmermann from third and making the score 4-1.
Gateway then tied the score in the bottom of the fifth, as after Jairus Richards walked, then Eric Rivera was hit by a pitch, they both stole a base before Clint Freeman cut the deficit to 4-2 on an RBI single.
Zimmermann followed with an RBI single of his own to make it a 4-3 game, and two batters later, Kyle Gaedele tied the game at 4-4 on another RBI hit, his first of the series.
In the seventh inning, the Grizzlies then scratched across the go-ahead run with two outs, with Andrew Penner singling, stealing second, going to third on an error by Morgan, then scoring on yet another RBI single by Gaedele to make it 5-4.
That lead held until the ninth, when with two outs and a man at second base, Carson Matthews hit a go-ahead, two-run home run off the glove of Richards at the right-center field fence against Josh Lucas (2-2), giving the ThunderBolts a 6-5 lead.
But in the bottom half, Freeman singled against Daiveyon Whittle (2-4), and Zimmermann followed with his 18th home run of the season, a walk-off, two-run blast to left field that gave the Grizzlies the incredible victory. The Gateway all-star finished a triple away from the cycle, going 4-for-5 in the contest with three RBIs to lead the club to the series-clinching win.
Gateway will now go for the three-game sweep against the ThunderBolts in the series finale on Thursday, July 27, at 6:45 p.m., in what will be a battle of all-star right-handers on the mound between Windy City’s Garrett Christman (5-2) and the Grizzlies’ Collin Sullivan (7-3).