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FL Gateway Grizzlies

Grizzlies Take Series with Doubleheader Split

July 2, 2023 - Frontier League (FL)
Gateway Grizzlies News Release


Sauget, IL - The Gateway Grizzlies split a doubleheader with the Trois-Rivieres Aigles on Sunday at Grizzlies Ballpark, falling just short by a score of 2-1 in seven innings in the first contest before rebounding with an 8-6 victory over seven innings in the second game.

In the first game, Carson LaRue (4-1) and Osman Gutierrez (4-4) each held the opposing team scoreless for the first three innings before the Aigles broke through with two outs in the fourth, scoring two runs on a walk, two consecutive singles, and an error to go ahead 2-0.

Thanks to Gutierrez, who pitched into the seventh and struck out eight, the Grizzlies trailed from there. They attempted a comeback in the bottom of the seventh, with Peter Zimmermann leading off with a single and Clint Freeman doubling to left-center field before D.J. Stewart brought in Gateway's first run on a groundout. But Tyler Cornett recorded the final out for the save, stranding the tying run at third base to draw Trois-Rivieres even in the series.

In the second game, a rubber game to decide the series, the Aigles got a three-run, first-inning home run from Dalton Combs to take a 3-0 lead on Zac Ryan (2-1) and the Grizzlies, but Gateway responded with a bang in the bottom half, netting five runs on six consecutive hits to leap ahead 5-3. Zimmermann's two-run double got the scoring started, followed by Abdiel Diaz's game-tying RBI single, a go-ahead double by Stewart, and an RBI groundout by Eric Rivera.

Two innings later, the Grizzlies added to their lead with two runs on zero hits, drawing two walks, three hit batters, and two wild pitches in the frame to take a 7-3 lead, which they expanded to 8-3 in the fifth on an RBI single with two outs by Andrew Penner.

Trois-Rivieres nearly came all the way back in the late innings against the Gateway bullpen after Ryan tossed five innings and struck out four to put himself in line for the win. Steve Brown's RBI double in the sixth made the score 8-4, and the Aigles also scored a pair of runs in the seventh to slice the lead to 8-6 on RBI hits by L.P. Pelletier and Juan Kelly. Trois-Rivieres then loaded the bases with two outs, putting the tying and leading runs on for Rodrigo Orozco, but his fly ball to deep right was caught at the warning track for the final out, securing the win and the series victory for Gateway.

Winners of seven of their last nine games overall and in first place in the Frontier League West Division standings, the Grizzlies will look to keep their momentum at home when they host the Florence Y'alls in a three-game series beginning on Monday, July 3, at Grizzlies Ballpark. Joey Gonzalez will start the series opener against Florence's Jestin Jones, with first pitch at 7:05 p.m. CT, and fireworks to follow the final out.

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