Grizzlies Fall Hard Again to ValleyCats
July 24, 2022 - Frontier League (FL)
Gateway Grizzlies News Release
For the second night in a row, the Gateway Grizzlies could not keep the Tri-City ValleyCats from scoring runs in bunches, allowing a season-high 20 hits (including four home runs) in losing 13-5 at Joseph L. Bruno Stadium for their fourth defeat in a row overall.
Yet again, the run-scoring started in the first, as Denis Phipps hit a seeing-eye single down the third base line to score Cito Culver and make it 1-0 Tri-City. A leadoff walk in the third inning would lead to another run for the ValleyCats and a 2-0 lead, but J.P. Williams (2-6) was able to work around the trouble to minimize the damage.
Gateway then scored a pair of runs in the top of the fourth on RBI doubles by Isaac Benard and Trevor Achenbach to tie the score at 2-2, the first time in the series they had been tied after the first inning. But in the bottom of the inning, things fell apart again for Gateway, as a leadoff triple followed by an RBI single by former Grizzlie Mitch Piatnik immediately made it 3-2, and later in the inning, both Brantley Bell and Phipps would hit two-run homers off Williams, making the score 7-2 Tri-City.
Andrew Penner would hit an RBI single, and Benard would follow with a sac fly in the next inning to get Gateway back within 7-4, but again, the Grizzlies' pitching could not execute down the stretch, as the ValleyCats scored one more run in the fifth, three in the sixth, and two in the eighth to complete the onslaught. The Grizzlies scored their final run in the ninth on an RBI single by Ian Bibiloni, but it was not enough as Gateway dropped under the .500 mark at 29-30 while losing their second-straight series.
Gateway will conclude the weekend in the series finale on Sunday, July 24, at 4:00 p.m. CT. Manuel Rodriguez is scheduled to make his first start in a Grizzlies uniform against Tri-City's Austin Faith at Joseph L. Bruno Stadium.
The Gateway Grizzlies are a professional baseball team, located a mere 10 minutes from downtown St. Louis in Sauget, Illinois. The Grizzlies offer baseball fans affordable, family fun at GCS Credit Union Ballpark with a great view of the St. Louis skyline. They have also won two Frontier League Organization of the Year Awards, three West Division titles, and the 2003 Frontier League Championship. For tickets or general information, please visit gatewaygrizzlies.com or call (618) 337-3000.
The Frontier League debuted in 1993, and is the largest of the Major League Baseball Partner Leagues, featuring teams stretching from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mississippi River, and from the Ohio River to the St. Lawrence Seaway. More information and the complete 2022 schedule can be found at frontierleague.com.
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Frontier League Stories from July 24, 2022
- Cito Culver's Walk-Off Completes Sweep of Gateway - Tri-City ValleyCats
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- Washington Edged out in Finale against Aigles - Washington Wild Things
- ThunderBolts Shut Down in Loss to New Jersey - Windy City ThunderBolts
- Denis Phipps Breaks Single Season Home Run Record in ValleyCats Victory - Tri-City ValleyCats
- Run Fest Favours Crushers over Titans - Ottawa Titans
- Grizzlies Fall Hard Again to ValleyCats - Gateway Grizzlies
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