2021 Season Review
September 23, 2021 - Frontier League (FL)
Gateway Grizzlies News Release
The Grizzlies have a bright future ahead after capping off a 2021 season with fans in the stands.
It's a new era for Gateway. Cam Roth had a successful first year as manager of the Grizzlies and has the pieces in place to take the next step.
A Hall of Famer Stops By
Ted Simmons joined fans at GCS Credit Union Ballpark for a meet and greet on August 27th. The recent Hall of Fame inductee also had a bobble head giveaway to open up the season on May 28th.
Fans flooded the parking lots and waited in droves to get their chance to pick up their Ted Simmons bobblehead and meet him.
Farewell to a Grizzlies Great
Over the majority of the past two seasons, Geoff Bramblett has been the lights-out closer for Gateway. He had 22 saves over those two years, but Bramblett had moved into a starting role late in the season.
Bramblett made the transition seamlessly and proved he could be successful in that role as well before being traded at the transaction deadline. In 2019 Bramblett owned a 0.50 ERA with 61 strikeouts in 53.2 innings. In 2021 he went 38 innings with 39 strikeouts and a 1.65 ERA with Gateway.
Of the 57 times Bramblett appeared out of the bullpen in his Grizzlies career, he was only scored on in three of those appearances. Geoff Bramblett will forever be one of the most dominant Grizzlies pitchers ever.
Gateway Brings Derby Drama
One of the league rule changes in 2021 was a home run derby that served as a tiebreaker if the game was tied after ten innings of play. Gateway thrived in this scenario going 6-1 in games decided by a home run derby.
A large part of the derby success was catching coordinator James Keller. He's been known for his deft ability to throw bullpen, and it translated perfectly to the home run derby. The derby used a pitch limit, rather than swing limit, putting emphasis on a teams ability to throw easy to hit pitches.
Brian Parreira, a late season addition, hit three straight home runs in a home run derby at Windy City that had the bench and social media on fire.
A Future Superstar
Throwing batting practice isn't the only talent that James Keller possesses. The Grizzlies were able to add talent to their roster throughout the year in impressive fashion, perhaps none more impressive than Jack Harris.
In 20 games, the Californian slugger hit .382 with a .697 slugging percentage and seven home runs. All seven of those home runs came in nine home games at GCS Credit Union Ballpark, electrifying the crowd time and time again.
Harris hit six of his seven home runs in a seven game stretch from August 28th to September 5th. A stretch of baseball that Grizzlies fans won't forget anytime soon.
2022 Outlook
Cam Roth has assembled a young and talented roster of rookie-1 players that will help fortify next years' roster. There are also a number of talented rookie-1 pitchers that will be available, like Sam Gardner.
The collection of younger players will have this team prepared with the type of depth that championship rosters possess.
We can't wait to see all of you out at GCS Credit Union Ballpark in 2022! Stay tuned to gatewaygrizzlies.com for updates on the 2022 season and roster.
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The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
