SAUGET – The Gateway Grizzlies got out to a 5-0 lead through the first six innings, and survived another late push from the Schaumburg Boomers in a 5-4 victory on Sunday night at Grizzlies Ballpark, taking the series two games to one and remaining in second place in the West Division standings.
In the second inning, Gateway took full advantage of a wild Boomers starter, as Jackson Hickert (4-5) hit Peter Zimmermann with a pitch to lead off an inning in which he would allow four more “free bases.” After striking out the second batter of the inning, D.J. Stewart was also plunked on the arm, and David Maberry worked a 10-pitch walk, loading the bases. A passed ball on catcher Jake Meyer made the score 1-0, and after Cole Brannen walked to re-load the bases, Tate Wargo hit an infield single to shortstop, scoring Stewart for a 2-0 lead.
Abdiel Diaz would follow with an RBI groundout to second base for a 3-0 Grizzlies advantage, and when Gabe Holt took ball four from Hickert- his third walk of the inning- Brannen scampered home on a stolen base to make it a 4-0 game.
Lukas Veinbergs (2-4), meanwhile, turned in his finest outing of the season. Despite Schaumburg getting at least one man on base in every inning but one, the all-star right-hander allowed no runs over six strong innings, walking three and striking out four to earn the win. In the bottom of the sixth, Stewart gave him an insurance run on a solo home run that stayed fair just inside the right field foul pole, giving Gateway a 5-0 lead.
That would prove to be the winning run as well, as in the seventh inning, things nearly fell apart on the Grizzlies’ bullpen after Veinbergs departed the game. The Boomers loaded the bases on two singles and a walk against Joel Condreay, with a Will Prater RBI groundout making the score 5-1. Christian Fedko followed with a two-run double down the right field line to make it 5-3, and after Nathanial Tate was brought into the game, Anthony Calarco’s RBI single made it a one-run game at 5-4.
Tate was able to get out of the jam with a fielder’s choice and a strikeout, and Alec Whaley and Alvery De Los Santos would do the same in the last two innings, as the Boomers would get the tying run on base with a one-out single in each frame. De Los Santos stranded that run in scoring position by getting Chase Dawson to ground out to first base in the eighth, setting up more late drama in the ninth.
With Fedko on at first base and one out after he singled, Calarco hit a slow ground ball to third base that Stewart made a back-handed play on, throwing to first for the second out. Fedko, however, took too wide of a turn around second base, and Zimmermann fired a strike to Holt at the bag for the final out, securing the game-ending double play as well as the series victory. It represents just the third time this season that the Grizzlies have won a three-game series after dropping the opening contest.
Now 1.5 games ahead of third-place Lake Erie in the West Division standings, Gateway will remain at home over the off day tomorrow before opening up a three-game series against the New Jersey Jackals on Tuesday, July 30, at 6:30 p.m. CT.
Grizzlies Rally Late To Best Boomers
The Gateway Grizzlies had a 4-0 lead on Saturday night against the Schaumburg Boomers, saw the visitors come back to tie the game in the seventh, then batted around and scored four runs in response in the bottom of the same inning in a critical, 8-4 victory at Grizzlies Ballpark that evened up the weekend series.
After the game started with a 34-minute weather delay, it was the Grizzlies broke the scoreless tie in the bottom of the second against Cole Cook. Peter Zimmermann and Edwin Mateo led off with back-to-back singles, and went to second and third base on a wild pitch. Cole Brannen then brought in the first run on an RBI groundout, making the score 1-0. Cook then walked a pair of batters with two outs before Abdiel Diaz smacked a double down the third base line to make the score 3-0.
In the fourth inning, the Grizzlies would come up clutch again, with Gabe Holt knocking a two-out RBI single into center field to score Brannen and make the score 4-0. Collin Sullivan, meanwhile, was sharp again on the mound, shutting out Schaumburg over the first five innings and collecting seven strikeouts.
The only runs the Grizzlies starter allowed came in his final inning, with Anthony Calarco leading off with a single and scoring on a two-run home run by Paxton Wallace to right field, cutting the lead in half and making the score 4-2.
In the seventh, more trouble came Gateway’s way, as Kaleb Hill entered and surrendered a solo home run to Allante Hall, making it 4-3. Chase Dawson reached on an infield single, and after a fielder’s choice replaced him with Brett Milazzo, Alec Whaley (3-1) was summoned from the bullpen. He got Christian Fedko to fly out to left field for the second out, but Calarco would reach on an error by Diaz before Wallace tied the score on an RBI double at 4-4.
Whaley would strike out David Harris to strand the lead runs in scoring position, however, and in the bottom of the seventh, the Grizzlies answered in a big way. Zimmermann led off with a double against Hambleton Oliver (0-3), and Mateo laid down a sacrifice bunt that was throw high to first base for an error, allowing Zimmermann to score and Mateo to go all the way to third base with the score now 5-4. After a lineout to right field, Brannen also bunted in front of the plate, with Mateo scampering home and just beating the glove flip by Oliver to Hall for a 6-4 lead.
Gateway wasn’t finished. Tate Wargo then hit an RBI triple just out of the reach of a diving Fedko in right field to make it 7-4, and Jose Alvarez followed with an RBI double down the right field line for the 8-4 advantage which became the final score. The Grizzlies’ bullpen did the rest, as Gateway moved into second place in the West Division standings for the first time since June 1 with the win as well as Lake Erie’s loss tonight to Evansville.
Grizzlies Drop Critical Opener To Boomers
After surging in the West Division standings with a 5-1 road trip out of the all-star break, the Gateway Grizzlies came home for another crucial series against the Schaumburg Boomers, and came up short, losing 4-3 in 10 innings at Grizzlies Ballpark to break their four-game win streak.
Gateway had a golden chance in the bottom of the second inning after starter Teague Conrad got out of a jam in the first, loading the bases with no one out against Boomers starter Antonio Frias. They would get one run in the frame on a two-out RBI single by Jose Alvarez to go ahead 1-0, but only got the one run, which Schaumburg would score right back in the top of the third on a two-out RBI single by Anthony Calarco.
Tied at 1-1, Gateway used a leadoff walk and hit batter to lead off the bottom of the third, and David Maberry singled down the right field line to make it a 2-1 game. With runners at the corners, a wild pitch by Frias scored an additional run to give the Grizzlies a 3-1 lead, but that advantage also did not hold in the next half inning.
Conrad walked Aaron Simmons leading off, and after a passed ball advanced the runner to second, a pair of ground balls scored Simmons to make it 3-2. But then Conrad allowed a single to Tyler Depreta-Johnson, followed by a soft, low, line drive to right field by Chase Dawson. Kyle Gaedele could not make a diving catch, and the ball got all the way to the wall for a game-tying RBI triple, making the score 3-3.
That would be the last time either team scored in the contest. Conrad finished a “quality start” by pitching six innings against his former team, and the second part of the game was marked by stellar defensive plays from both teams. Notably, D.J. Stewart was robbed of a go-ahead two-run home run by Christian Fedko on a leaping catch over the right field wall, and Ty Crittenberger was also denied a go-ahead homer to right field by a leaping Gaedele in the seventh, also with the defender tipping over the wall.
In extra innings, Nathanial Tate (1-2) got the first two batters out on a popout and strikeout in the International Tiebreaker, but surrendered yet another Boomers RBI hit with two outs in the game to Fedko, making the score 4-3. Gateway was then unable to advance the tying run past second base in the bottom half of the inning, suffering just their second Friday night loss at home this season.
