Grizzlies Out-Pitch ThunderBolts in Bounce-Back Win
June 14, 2024 - Frontier League (FL)
Gateway Grizzlies News Release
Sauget, Ill. - The Gateway Grizzlies bounced back on Friday night at Grizzlies Ballpark, holding the Windy City ThunderBolts to just two hits in the game while taking advantage of a wild visiting bullpen in a 9-2 victory to kick off the three-game series.
The Grizzlies' offense was able to snag the early lead in the bottom of the first inning as Abdiel Diaz led off against ThunderBolts starter Ruddy Gomez with a double, stole third base, and scored on a sacrifice fly by Kevin Krause to put Gateway ahead 1-0.
Deylen Miley (3-3) took it from there, as the right-hander retired the first nine batters he faced with six strikeouts. Windy City used back-to-back leadoff walks in the top of the fourth, plus a wild pitch and a sacrifice fly by Joe Johnson, to even up the score at 1-1, but the Gateway starter kept his foot on the gas pedal, lasting a career-high six innings and striking out 10 batters while giving up just the one run and one hit.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, after Gomez departed, the Grizzlies put together a big inning to take the lead for good. Peter Zimmermann and Jack-Thomas Wold led off with walks, and with one out, a pair of wild pitches by Jacob Newman (0-1) gave Gateway the lead at 2-1. After Newman got the second out, Jose Alvarez hit a ground ball up the middle that was booted for a costly error by Windy City shortstop Henry Kusiak, scoring Wold from third base and making the score 3-1.
Gateway was not done there. An infield single and a walk loaded the bases, and Cole Brannen was plunked with a pitch to increase the lead to 4-1. Krause then singled home two more runs for a 6-1 lead, and after Windy City got a run back on a solo home run from Christian Kuzemka in the top of the seventh, Gateway would respond by scoring one run in the seventh on an RBI groundout by Alvarez and two more in the eighth on a passed ball and another wild pitch, accounting for the final 9-2 score.
All told, the Grizzlies pitching staff allowed just two hits and two walks in the contest while striking out 14 as a staff, out-pitching the Windy City arms, who issued five wild pitches on the night as well as nine walks against 10 strikeouts as Gateway earned their third-straight win in a series opener.
The Grizzlies will look to make it a series victory in the middle game of the weekend on Saturday, June 15, at Grizzlies Ballpark. Tyler Cornett draws the start for Gateway against the ThunderBolts' Kevin "Buddie" Pindel, with first pitch scheduled for 6:30 p.m. CT.
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