The Southern Illinois Miners rallied back from a deficit in the eighth inning for the second night in a row against the Frontier Greys at Rent One Park, with a go-ahead two-run single by Steve Marino, and this time secured the win by a score of 5-3, notching their 500th win in franchise history and becoming the fastest team in Frontier League history to 500 wins in the process.
The Greys for the seventh time in nine games against the Miners in Marion this season scored first in the game, getting all three of their runs on four hits in the third inning off of starter Ryan Brockett. But the Miners were able to chip away at the lead. Michael Earley led off the fourth inning with a triple and scored on a big two-out RBI single by Aaron Gates to make it 3-1. With Brockett and reliever Jon Klein (3-0) teaming up to hold the Greys off the scoreboard in the middle innings, Marino led off the bottom of the seventh with a walk and ended up scoring on an RBI double ripped down the third base line off the bat of Brian Portelli for a 3-2 score.
In the eighth inning, the Miners again made their move against reliever Steven Wehr (1-3). After a strikeout, Wehr issued three straight walks to Frank Martinez, Niko Vasquez and Gates to load the bases. On the very next pitch, Marino lined a single through the left side of the infield, plating Martinez and pinch-runner Ryan DiMascio for a 4-3 Miners lead. Later in the inning, on a pop-out to first in foul territory, Gates bluffed home to draw a wild throw by Scott Carcaise to the plate, bringing home a fifth Miners run for the final margin.
Evan Mott earned his first save of the season in the ninth, striking out the first two hitters before the Greys put the tying runs into scoring position. Mott induced a grounder to Martinez at second to end the ballgame as Southern Illinois remained tied for first place and salvaged the series finale. The win made the Miners the fastest team in Frontier League history to 500 wins, achieving the milestone in game number 844 as a franchise. That shattered the previous mark of 500 wins in 895 games by 51, held by the Washington Wild Things.
Southern Illinois next heads on the road to begin a six-game road trip on Tuesday night against the River City Rascals at T.R. Hughes Ballpark. Miguel Ramirez will start the opener of the set opposed by Tim Koons, with first pitch set for 6:35 p.m.
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.
