Grizzlies' Season Ends as Comeback Falls Inches Short
Published on September 11, 2023 under Frontier League (FL)
Gateway Grizzlies News Release
Sauget, IL - The Gateway Grizzlies almost came all the way back from a six-run deficit in the seventh inning on Sunday night against the Evansville Otters in the winner-take-all Game Three of the Frontier League Division Series, but watched a potential game-tying homer in the ninth come up inches short in a 9-7 loss that brought their remarkable 2023 season to a close at Grizzlies Ballpark.
Yet again, the ballgame began with the visitors plating a run in the first inning, with Kona Quiggle's RBI double following a Noah Myers leadoff walk putting Evansville up 1-0 against Joey Gonzalez (0-1). Gateway would respond, however, with four straight hits to lead off the second inning against Tim Holdgrafer (1-0), with Mark Vierling extending his hitting streak with a two-run single that put the Grizzlies ahead 2-1, and Alex Hernandez's RBI groundout increasing the lead to 3-1.
Gonzalez then got to two outs and two strikes on Dakota Phillips in the third inning before surrendering an RBI single to the Otters catcher that made it a one-run game at 3-2. That is where the score would stay until a fateful top of the fifth, when Gonzalez would depart following a leadoff hit-by-pitch and walk that put the tying and go-ahead runs on base.
Alec Whaley came in and got the first two outs of the inning on ground balls, with one of them scoring the tying run and making the score 3-3. But the floodgates would open from there, with Evansville getting six consecutive hits and plating seven total runs in the inning to take a 9-3 advantage.
It took until the seventh inning for the Grizzlies to respond this time, but they did so in a big way. Following a Clint Freeman RBI groundout that cashed in a leadoff walk from Jairus Richards in the seventh, making the score 9-4, the Grizzlies would again touch up Otters reliever Kevin Davis in the eighth, with Kyle Gaedele leading off the frame with a solo home run. Then, Gateway loaded the bases for Peter Zimmermann, whose two-run, two-out single to right field made the score 9-7 and put the tying runs on base.
Evansville closer Jake Polancic got out of that jam with a subsequent flyout, however, and Gateway mounted one final push in the bottom of the ninth. Andrew Penner led off the inning with a double to get the tying run to the plate, and after a strikeout and a popout got the Grizzlies down to their final out, Vierling stepped up and hit a fly ball to deep right field, which was caught by Jeffrey Baez at the wall to end the game, barely missing a game-tying home run.
With their history-making 2023 campaign that contained the club's first winning season since 2014 and their first playoff appearance since 2012 coming to an end, the Grizzlies will look forward to 2024, when they will take the field once more and look to continue their upward momentum at Grizzlies Ballpark.
Frontier League Stories from September 11, 2023
- Grizzlies' Season Ends as Comeback Falls Inches Short - Gateway Grizzlies
- Otters Advance to Championship Series - Evansville Otters
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