Lee's Late Homer Shocks Schaumburg
Published on July 12, 2026 under Frontier League (FL)
Gateway Grizzlies News Release
SCHAUMBURG, ILL. - Darryl Lee played hero for the Gateway Grizzlies on Sunday afternoon at Wintrust Field, launching a go-ahead three run home run with two outs in the eighth inning to cap a four-run frame and stun the Schaumburg Boomers 4-3 in the rubber game of the weekend set.
With much of their bullpen unavailable, Ben Gregory delivered a brilliant start. The rookie right-hander began his day by striking out eight Boomers in his first four innings of work, setting a new career-high in punchouts in the process. Gregory then also escaped his first signs of trouble in the fifth, leaving the bases loaded to maintain a shutout after five innings.
Unfortunately for Gregory, however, the Gateway offense was not able to provide any run support to back up his great outing. Schaumburg starter Derek Salata matched Gregory inning by inning as both teams had nothing but zeroes on the board until the bottom of the sixth, when Schaumburg finally broke through.
Gregory issued a walk to begin the inning before a bloop single that Dale Thomas lost in the sun and an additional base hit loaded the bases for Schaumburg with nobody out. Kyle Fitzgerald then hit a ground ball that turned into an RBI fielder's choice before a sacrifice fly gave the Boomers a 2-0 lead. Gregory exited after six high-quality innings, striking out nine hitters in his second "quality start" of the week.
Salata ended up blanking the Grizzlies over seven innings, and after the Boomers added a run against Claudio Galva (3-2) for a 3-0 advantage in the bottom of the seventh, Gateway responded against the Schaumburg bullpen in the eighth. Cole Brannen started the comeback with a leadoff walk, and two batters later, Victor Castillo doubled off the left field wall, setting up Thomas for an RBI infield single to third base that made it 3-1.
The Boomers brought in all-star southpaw reliever Caleb Riedel (1-2), and after he got Brennan Orf to line out to the second baseman, Lee stepped up to the plate. With two strikes and two outs, the Gateway newcomer sent a ball out to left-center for an ultra-clutch, opposite-field, comeback, three-run home run, putting the Grizzlies ahead 4-3.
Matt Hickey then made the late rally stand up, working around the tying run on base to lead off both the eighth and ninth innings as well as the winning run on base in the latter frame for a six-out save, securing the series win on the road and giving the Grizzlies momentum heading into the all-star break.
The Grizzlies will return to action on Friday night, July 17, at ForeFront Field in Avon, Ohio, beginning the nominal second half of the season against the Lake Erie Crushers. First pitch is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. CT.
Frontier League Stories from July 12, 2026
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- Crushers Stifled in First Half Finale, Find Themselves Just 3.5 Games Back of Playoff Spot at All-Star Break - Lake Erie Crushers
- Lee's Late Homer Shocks Schaumburg - Gateway Grizzlies
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- Titans Drop Back-And-Forth Affair to End First Half - Ottawa Titans
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- Smith Settles into Quality Outing as Mud Monsters Take Series against ThunderBolts - Mississippi Mud Monsters
- ValleyCats Take Slugfest in First Half Finale - Tri-City ValleyCats
- Miners Versus Evansville Postponed Last Night. Doubleheader Today - Sussex County Miners
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