SAUGET – The Gateway Grizzlies put up nine runs in the bottom of the second inning to come back from an early deficit on Tuesday night, and got a career-best five RBIs from shortstop Abdiel Diaz in a triumphant return to the club en route to a 13-10 victory over the Schaumburg Boomers at Arsenal BG Ballpark to kick off a nine-game home stand.
Things did not begin well for the Grizzlies or starter Lukas Veinbergs, who surrendered a two-out RBI double to Anthony Calarco that made the score 1-0 in the first inning, then three more runs in the second on RBI hits by Andrew Sojka and Calarco that made the deficit 4-0 heading into the bottom of the frame.
But Schaumburg starter Quinlan Wiley (2-1) lost his command of the strike zone, walking the first three batters of the inning to kickstart what would become the Grizzlies’ biggest inning of the year offensively. With the bases loaded, Edwin Mateo doubled in two runs to make it a 4-2 score, and Cole Brannen followed with a game-tying two-run double of his own to right field. Brannen moved to third base on a flyout by Jose Alvarez, and would score on a go-ahead sacrifice fly by Gabe Holt, with Gateway taking a 5-4 lead on the second out of the inning.
But the damage would not end there. Victor Castillo hit an automatic double to keep the inning going, and D.J. Stewart was hit by a pitch before Mark Shallenberger walked, loading the bases for Diaz. The veteran shortstop came up huge, smashing a grand slam home run down the right field line to make the score 9-5.
Undaunted, Schaumburg was able to plate four runs in the top of the next inning to threaten the newfound lead and knock Veinbergs out of the game. But Gateway stayed in front by a run, a lead that was extended when the Grizzlies plated two runs in the bottom of the third inning on a wild pitch by Hambleton Oliver as well as a solo home run by Alvarez, making it a 11-8 ballgame.
The Boomers would threaten again by scoring single runs in the top of the fourth inning on an RBI groundout by Alec Craig, and in the top of the sixth inning on an RBI single by Satchell Norman. But with the tying run at third base an no outs in the latter frame, Matt Hickey wiggled out of trouble without allowing any more runs to score, and Diaz would earn his fifth RBI of the game with two outs in the bottom of the sixth on a single. Castillo would homer to left field in the eighth inning to make it a 13-10 contest, and Keegan Collett would nail down his third save of the season with a scoreless ninth inning, ending the slugfest in Sauget.
Having now won four of their last five games, the Grizzlies will look to take the series from the Boomers in the middle game of the set on Wednesday, June 18, at Arsenal BG Ballpark. Claudio Galva will start the contest for Gateway against Schaumburg right-hander Derek Salata, with first pitch scheduled for 6:30 p.m. CT.
