The Southern Illinois Miners held a 2-1 lead entering the ninth inning, but surrendered three runs in the frame in falling to the Normal CornBelters at Rent One Park 4-2 on Friday night.
The Miners took the early lead 1-0 in the second on a ground-rule double by Frank Martinez and an RBI single by Jerrud Sabourin. Normal tied the game on an RBI single in the third inning by Santiago Chirino, and the game would remain tied through the middle innings despite opportunities by both teams to score.
Miners starter Matt Bywater battled his way through six innings, working out of two seperate bases-loaded, nobody-out jams in the fourth and fifth before getting out of a jam with a runner at second and one out in the sixth. He allowed just one run on six hits, striking out seven batters and walking four. He left in line for the win when Brendan Slattery’s RBI groundout in the bottom of the sixth with the bases loaded brought home the go-ahead run and made it 2-1 Miners.
After the bullpen worked perfect seventh and eighth innings, the CornBelters rallied against Pete Perez (1-1) in the ninth. After a leadoff double and stolen base, pinch-hitter Jason Merjano struck out before Mark Micowski’s RBI single tied the game at two. A stolen base and a wild pitch moved Micowski to third, with a hit-by-pitch and another stolen base putting runners at second and third before Pat McKenna struck out for the second out. With two strikes, Aaron Dudley then hit a bloop single to center to plate the winning runs.
The Miners will look to even the series on Saturday night at 7:05 p.m., with a special holiday fireworks show to take place after the game.
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.
