Grizzlies Win Series over First-Place Washington
July 14, 2022 - Frontier League (FL)
Gateway Grizzlies News Release
Sauget, IL - The Gateway Grizzlies again fell behind in the first inning against the Washington Wild Things on Thursday night at GCS Credit Union Ballpark, but came back to take the lead on a pair of home runs while Carson LaRue (2-2) settled in and dominated over seven innings on the mound in a 4-2 victory.
For the second night in a row, Washington all-star shortstop Nick Ward hit the first pitch of the game over the wall for a home run, making the score 1-0 Washington. After a walk to Jared Mang and a single by Scotty Dubrule put runners at the corners with still no outs, LaRue got Wagner Lagrange to hit into a double play, which also doubled the Wild Things' lead to 2-0.
That was also the last time Washington would do anything of note against the Gateway starter, who proceeded to allow just three more baserunners for the rest of his seven strong innings on the mound. The right-hander retired 18 of the final 20 batters he faced in the game, including 13 in a row at one point, and tied his career-high with eight strikeouts to get the win.
The Grizzlies' offense, meanwhile, again got a run back in the bottom of the first inning on an RBI groundout by Zach Racusin to make it 2-1. In the third inning against Washington starter Hayden Pearce (4-3), Alex Hernandez doubled off the right field fence, setting up Andrew Penner, whose two-run homer to right-center field gave the Grizzlies a 3-2 lead. The next inning, Trevor Achenbach hit his team-best 18th home run of the season far over the left field wall for a 4-2 advantage.
The bullpen was once again outstanding to hold the lead for Gateway as well, as Sam Gardner and John Murphy combined for five strikeouts in two innings of work, with Murphy fanning the side for the second time in the series to record the save and secure the series win over the first-place team in the Frontier League's West Division.
Gateway will look to keep the winning going into the weekend, playing host to the Schaumburg Boomers in the final series before the all-star break beginning on Friday, July 15, at 6:45 p.m. J.P. Williams will get the ball to open the series on the mound against the Boomers' Shumpei Yoshikawa at GCS Credit Union Ballpark.
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