SAUGET, ILL. – The Gateway Grizzlies proved resilient on Saturday night, overcoming an early 4-0 deficit in a 10-7 victory over the Windy City Thunderbolts at Arsenal BG Ballpark, getting back to the .500 mark at 4-4 on the season.
Local product and Belleville, Illinois native Josh Dima made his professional debut on the mound for Gateway. The left-hander allowed six runs, four of which earned, in his three-inning outing, but the offense had his back. After Windy City scored four times in the first to take a 4-0 lead, Gateway matched the outburst with a four-spot of their own in the second inning. Cole Brannen’s RBI double started the scoring and made it 4-1, and with two outs, Sawyer Smith muscled a three-run home run over the left field wall to knot things up at 4-4.
The Thunderbolts punched back with two more runs in the third inning, taking a 6-4 lead, but the Grizzlies were up to the comeback task again. Mark Shallenberger drilled a solo home run to right field to bring Gateway within a run at 6-5 after four innings. Then, in the fifth, they score two more and took the lead. Tate Wargo punctuated a string of three straight hits with an RBI single, and Otto Jones outran a potential double play with the bases loaded to make the score 7-6 Grizzlies.
Meanwhile, Ty Good (1-0) locked things down on the mound. The first reliever out of the bullpen for Gateway gave them three scoreless innings without allowing a single hit after Windy City had collected eight hits in the first three frames.
Insurance came for the Grizzlies in the seventh and eighth innings, also with two outs. Brannen followed up his double earlier in the game with a two-run home run to right field, making the score 9-6, and after a Carlos Pena home run got Windy City a run closer, Dale Thomas’RBI single gave Gateway its tenth run of the night. The 10-7 cushion was more than enough for Sam Gardner, who earned his third save of the season by again striking out the side in the top of the ninth
The Grizzlies will go for the series win to close out their home stand on Sunday afternoon, with the rubber game against Windy City beginning at 1:05 p.m. CT. Alec Sparks will get the ball for Gateway, opposed by right-hander A.J. Campbell for the ThunderBolts.
Grizzlies Take Second Straight Loss Against Windy City
Gateway offense held to four hits in dropping opening game of weekend
SAUGET, ILL. – The Gateway Grizzlies struggled both at the plate and on the mound on Friday night against the Windy City ThunderBolts, as they were held to only four hits on offense while walking a season-high nine opposing batters in a 7-2 loss at Arsenal BG Ballpark.
For the third straight game, it was the Grizzlies scoring a run in the first to take an early lead, this time on a two-out RBI infield single by Dale Thomas to go ahead 1-0. Xander Lovin (0-1) was sharp early as well, allowing no hits and facing just one batter over the minimum through three innings.
But things went south in the middle frames. Windy City plated two runs in the fourth to go ahead for good on an RBI single by Victor Cerny and a sacrifice fly by James Dunlap, then scored three more runs in the fifth inning on RBI hits by Cerny and Daryl Ruiz. The ThunderBolts also plated two more runs in the sixth against Jack Hoeymans on a bases-loaded walk and another sac fly by Ruiz, giving him three RBIs on the night.
The Grizzlies’ only other run came in the bottom of the sixth when Thomas reached on a two-out error by Dunlap at shortstop, allowing Sawyer Smith to score to make it 7-2, but that is as close as Gateway got in dropping their second straight game at home to fall to 3-4 on the season.
They will look again to bounce back on Saturday, May 16, at 6:30 p.m. CT. Belleville, Illinois native and McKendree University alum Josh Dima will make his professional debut on the mound for the Grizzlies.
