The Southern Illinois Miners, down 4-0 entering the bottom of the ninth, mounted their largest and most dramatic comeback of the season, with Michael Earley blasting a game-tying grand slam home run and Jerrud Sabourin winning it with a walk-off single to shock the Washington Wild Things and win 5-4 on Friday night at Rent One Park.
After the Wild Things, who led the entire game, scored an insurance run in the top of the ninth against Alan Oaks (2-1), Southern Illinois began their comeback against Joe Iorio by leading off with two walks on four pitches each by Jon Minucci and Toby DeMello. After Washington went to last year’s league leader in saves Jonathan Kountis out of the bullpen, Adrian English singled up the middle to load the bases with no one out.
Aaron Gates then flew out to right with no advance by the runners, setting up Earley, who on an 0-1 pitch hammered the pitch from the Wild Things’ closer over the fence for a game-tying grand slam. It was the first grand slam by a member of the Miners at Rent One Park since former all-star outfielder Javier Herrera hit one against the Evansville Otters on August 15th, 2012, and it sent the nearly 4,000 fans in attendance into euphoria.
The Miners were not finished. After a strikeout for the second out, Frank Martinez crushed a triple to the wall in left-center field before Sabourin slammed a walk-off single off the fence in right, clinching an improbable series-opening victory for Southern Illinois in Marion.
Fittingly, Earley and Sabourin were the only Miners in the game to have multiple hits as the Miners were shut down through the first eight innings by Washington starter Tim Flight and Iorio on just four total hits. That became a footnote, however, as the Miners had four hits in the ninth inning alone, and took the series opener in dramatic fashion.
They will next go for the series win in game two against Washington on Saturday night at 6:05 p.m. Rookie Jon Klein will start for Southern Illinois, who will retire #13 for former Frontier League Pitcher of the Year and all-time career wins and strikeouts leader Ryan Bird in a special pregame ceremony.
Jason Guerette is the Grizzlies' Director of Broadcasting and Media Relations and the "Voice of the Grizzlies." 2023 will be his second season with the organization, handling lead broadcasting duties on the Grizzlies Media Network as well as being in charge of all team press releases and game-day media materials.
2023 will also be Jason's ninth season in the Frontier League after spending 2014-21 in the same role with the Southern Illinois Miners. Overall, he has broadcasted close to 800 games in the league, including playoffs. During the baseball offseason, he serves as a play-by-play broadcaster for Manhattan College and the New Jersey Institute of Technology, with games being seen on ESPN+ among other platforms.
In addition to broadcasting, Jason works as a public address announcer for Seton Hall University women's basketball as well as Columbia University men's and women's basketball. He also spent nine years working "behind the scenes" as a freelance board operator and highlight editor at Westwood One for their coverage of the NFL, NCAA football, and NCAA basketball.
Jason graduated from Seton Hall in 2012 with B.A. in Communication Studies and a minor in Broadcasting & Visual Media.
