AVON, OHIO – The Gateway Grizzlies did not allow the Lake Erie Crushers a single hit until there were two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning on Thursday night, but the one hit they did allow was a go-ahead, two-run triple by Vincent Byrd, Jr. in a 4-2 loss at Crushers Stadium.
It was a combined effort by the Grizzlies’ staff, as Deylen Miley struck out four in his three innings pitched to end 2024 with 161 on the year, the second-most in a single season by an individual pitcher in Frontier League history. Kaleb Hill would toss the next three innings, and Justin Goossen-Brown retired the side in the seventh.
The game itself was back-and-forth again, as Lake Erie took a 1-0 lead with an unearned run on an RBI groundout by Jake Guenther in the second inning before Gateway responded on a two-out RBI single by Victor Castillo in the top of the third. The Grizzlies then went ahead 2-1 in the next inning on another two-out RBI hit by Tate Wargo, but two leadoff walks by Hill in the bottom half led to a Guenther sac fly, tying the game again.
It remained 2-2 until the eighth inning, and after the Grizzlies had runners at first and third base with one out, as well as the bases loaded with two outs but failing to score in the top of the eighth, Keegan Collett (0-1) came in for the bottom half, and retired the first two batters he faced. But Alberti Chavez would reach on an error by Abdiel Diaz and Scout Knotts would follow with a walk, bringing up Byrd, who fell behind 0-2 before hitting a fly ball to left-center field that Castillo nearly caught for the final out of the frame. But it dropped out of his glove for the Crushers’ first (and, as it turned out) only hit of the game, scoring the go-ahead runs and making the score 4-2.
The Grizzlies would get a runner on base in the ninth inning on an error, bringing the tying run to the plate, but would not be able to score in suffering just their second series loss since the end of June. They will look to bounce back this weekend in the final series of the regular season at home against the Florence Y’alls at Grizzlies Ballpark. First pitch of the series opener is set for tomorrow, August 30, at 6:30 p.m. CT in Sauget.
