SAUGET – The Gateway Grizzlies became the third team in the Frontier League to officially clinch a playoff spot in 2024, beating the Florence Y’alls 6-3 at Grizzlies Ballpark on Thursday night to sweep the midweek series and win their seventh game in a row overall.
Florence struck the first blow in the contest, loading the bases with no outs against Alvery De Los Santos (3-1) in the top of the second inning. After the Gateway starter got two outs and came one strike away from escaping the jam unscathed, Craig Massey bounced an infield single to third base, with D.J. Stewart’s throw hitting the runner near first. Two runs scored on the play, and the Y’alls had their first lead of the series at 2-0.
But the Grizzlies would rally. Cole Brannen blasted a solo home run to right field to cut the deficit in half in the bottom of the third, and in the fifth inning, the former Y’all would rip an automatic double to right field after Dale Thomas had reached on a leadoff single, putting the tying and lead runs in scoring position with no outs. Jose Alvarez and Victor Castillo then brought in both runners on RBI groundouts, giving Gateway a 3-2 lead.
Zade Richardson would answer for Florence in the following inning, clubbing a solo home run in the top of the sixth to tie the score at 3-3. But in the bottom of the same frame, Peter Zimmermann drew a leadoff walk against Ben Terwilliger (4-2), and after moving to second base on a wild pitch, he scored on Kevin Krause’s go-ahead, RBI double off the center field wall, putting the Grizzlies up 4-3.
That turned out to be the game-winning hit as well. Gateway would tack on two more insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth off Logan Campbell on a bases-loaded walk by Edwin Mateo and a sacrifice fly to right field by Thomas, making the score 6-3.
After De Los Santos completed six innings on the mound, and Alec Whaley and Matt Hickey pitched scoreless innings in the seventh and eighth, Florence threatened against Leoni De La Cruz in the ninth, getting the tying run up to the plate with one out. But the southpaw would strike out both Blaze O’Saben and Massey to end the game, and set off the celebration for the Grizzlies as they clinched a playoff berth in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 2007-08.
The Grizzlies will look to keep their late-season surge going over the weekend, as they bring what is now their longest win streak of the season at seven in a row into Evansville for a three-game series against the Otters beginning on Friday, August 23, at 6:35 p.m. CT. Deylen Miley will pitch for the Grizzlies in the series opener against the Otters’ Braden Scott at Bosse Field.
