BROCKTON, MASS. – The Gateway Grizzlies lost 13-10 to the Brockton Rox on Tuesday night at Campanelli Stadium, surrendering eight runs in the bottom of the ninth to drop game one of their Atlantic Conference road trip in walk-off fashion.
After both teams scored single runs in the first, Davie Morgan left the yard the very next inning, with his opposite field solo homer giving the lead back to the Grizzlies at 2-1.
Things then got wild in the fourth inning. Three free passes kicked the frame off for Gateway’s offense, all of which were cashed in immediately with one swing of the bat by Gavin Baldwin, with the rookie crushing a grand slam for his first professional home run and a 6-1 lead. Then after another walk, Victor Castillo hit a no-doubter to right field for the third Grizzlies home run of the game and an 8-1 advantage.
The Rox were ready with another response in the bottom half, though, scoring four runs of their own against Vailes on three singles, two Gateway errors and a walk. Vailes was able to strand two runners with an inning-ending strikeout, but Brockton had cut the lead to 8-5.
The Grizzlies denied Brockton a shutdown inning in the top of the fifth, manufacturing a run when Morgan stole second base after a single, and forced an errant throw by the catcher, putting them up 9-5.
Over the course of the next four innings, the lead held despite the Rox loading the bases in three of the four frames, as the Grizzlies’ bullpen got out of the jams to keep the four-run advantage, expanding it to five on a Cole Brannen bases-loaded walk in the top of the ninth at 10-5.
But things fell apart in the bottom of the ninth. Claudio Galva (2-2) was called upon in the frame, and the dam would finally burst, resulting in an eight-run inning capped by a walk-off, three-run home run off the bat of Hayden Travinski, and sending Gateway to a shocking defeat, their third in a row overall.
The Grizzlies will try and stop the bleeding on Wednesday, June 17, in the middle game of the series in Massachusetts, sending Ben Harris to the mound against Brockton’s Zach Eldred. First pitch at Campanelli Stadium is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. CT.
Grizzlies Blitzed by Y’alls in Rubber Game
SAUGET – The Gateway Grizzlies yet again could not keep Dillon Baker and the Florence Y’alls in the ballpark on Sunday night at Arsenal BG Ballpark, as the shortstop hit three more home runs with eight RBIs, with two coming in his first two turns at bat to set the tone for a 15-4 Gateway loss.
Xander Lovin (0-4) got out of a jam in the first inning, but could not continue to do so in the second or third. Baker came up with two runners on and hit yet another home run to right-center field over the short wall, his second in as many nights, putting the Y’alls up 3-0 in the second inning.
After Mitchell Sanford got one back with his third homer of the season out to left-center field, Lovin got the first two batters out in the third inning, but issued a walk followed by a double and an RBI single by Garrett Broussard, with two runs scoring on the play thanks to an error by Sanford. Baker then came up again, and hit another home run, a two-run blast to left field, his fourth of the series, to make it 7-1 Florence.
Offensively, the Grizzlies also struggled. They hit a trio of home runs in the contest, with Sawyer Smith and Cole Brannen both going yard to join Sanford, but it was not nearly enough, as Florence starter Casey Bargo (1-1) pitched seven innings and struck out ten batters for the win.
Already leading 9-4 after eight, the Y’alls would pile on six more runs in the ninth inning as well, giving them 33 in the final two games of the series alone, including the fifth home run of the series for Baker, who finished the weekend with 13 RBIs by himself.
The Grizzlies will look to bounce back on the road, heading to Massachusetts to begin their annual Atlantic Conference trip on Tuesday, June 16 against the Brockton Rox. Gage Vailes will open the trip on the mound at Campanelli Stadium, with first pitch scheduled for 6:00 p.m. CT.
