FLORENCE, KY. –The Gateway Grizzlies gave up four runs in the fifth inning to the Florence Y’alls on Wednesday morning, breaking open a previously close game in a 7-2 loss at Thomas More Stadium as they saw their three-game win streak snapped.
For the second day in a row, Bryson Horne smashed a two-run home run in the top of the first inning, putting the Grizzlies ahead 2-0. But those would be the only runs of the game for Gateway despite eventually reaching double digits in the hit column for the third game in a row.
Not only that, but the Grizzlies continued to struggle to hold Florence off the board with two outs, as the home team tied the score on back-to-back RBI hits in the bottom of the first inning off Ben Gregory (1-2), then added another run in the third inning to make it 3-2.
After another RBI single in the fifth made the score 4-2, Gregory got a popup on the infield in between the mound and home plate off the bat of Jackson Tucker with two men on base. But the ball dropped between four different Grizzlies defenders, scoring one of the two runners on base to make the score 5-2. A bloop two-run single by Dillon Baker four pitches later made it 7-2, and put the game out of reach.
Cordoba Crushes Two Homers in Grizzlies’ Comeback Win
Newest Gateway outfielder hits go-ahead solo shot in ninth to complete rally from five down
FLORENCE, KY. – The Gateway Grizzlies got a huge game at the plate from Jose Cordoba on Tuesday night in Florence, as the newcomer hit two home runs, including the game-winning smash in the ninth inning, to lead them to an 8-7, come-from-behind win over the Y’alls at Thomas More Stadium, the club’s third in a row.
Bryson Horne got the party started with a two-run homer in the first inning off Florence starter John Girard, putting the Grizzlies up 2-0, but the lead would not hold, as Gage Vailes struggled, allowing seven runs (all with two outs) over his three innings on the mound to put Gateway behind 7-2.
After a couple of scoreless relief innings from Claudio Galva, the comeback began in the top of the sixth against Girard, when Horne doubled on the first pitch of the inning. Cordoba’s first homer of the game came on the next pitch, a two-run blast down the left field line to make it a 7-4 game. Thanks to four subsequent walks in the inning by Florence pitching as well as Cole Brannen’s sacrifice fly, the score sat at 7-5 after six full innings.
In the eighth, Davie Morgan led off with a single and Darryl Lee walked. After a sacrifice bunt by Brannen moved the runners up, Victor Castillo brought in one run with an RBI groundout, and Tate Wargo followed by coming up clutch, lining a two-out RBI single to left-center field that tied the game at 7-7.
Matt Hickey (3-1) then pitched a 1-2-3 bottom of the eighth inning with two strikeouts, and in the ninth, Cordoba led off against Florence all-star closer Aidan McEvoy (1-3), and teed off on a first-pitch fastball, sending his second long ball of the game 419 feet to left-center field to put the Grizzlies ahead 8-7. Julio Ortiz took care of the rest by striking out the side in the bottom of the ninth for his second save, as the Grizzlies won their third straight contest for the first time since early June.
