The Southern Illinois Miners were tied at 3-3 with the rival River City Rascals heading into the ninth inning on Thursday night at T.R. Hughes Ballpark in O’Fallon, Missouri, but Niko Vasquez crushed a solo shot to left to lead off the inning and Brian Portelli provided insurance with another solo homer later in the frame to elevate the Miners past the Rascals by a score of 5-3, delivering a win in a classic, back-and-forth playoff game. The Miners now have a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three Frontier League Division Series.
It was River City getting on the board first against Miners starter Jarett Miller. In the second inning with one out, Hector Crespo singled, then stole second and went to third on a groundout. Josh Ludy then hit Miller’s 0-1 pitch to right-center field for an RBI double and a 1-0 lead for the home team. It would be the last lead they would have in the game.
Southern Illinois got on the board and took the lead in the top of the fourth against River City starter Lucas Laster. After Craig Massey got on with a two-base error on Taylor Ard at third base, two batters later Michael Earley pulled a ground-rule double down the third base line to tie the game at 1-1. Three consecutive singles followed, as Vasquez and Jerrud Sabourin plated one run apiece to give the Miners a 3-1 lead.
That lead would hold until the bottom of the fifth, when with two outs and a man on first, a single and a passed ball put runners at second and third. Johnny Morales then hit a two-run single to center field to tie the score at 3-3. Both bullpens held the other team down in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings, with Miguel Ramirez (1-0) doing the job for the Miners and Will Schierholz and Derek Cape pitching scoreless frames for the Rascals.
River City then went to Victor Beriguete (0-1) in the ninth, and after falling behind in the count 2-1, Vasquez launched a no-doubter home run deep over the left field fence for a 4-3 Miners lead. After Beriguete got the next two batters out, Portelli followed by clubbing a solo shot to right-center that landed on top of the clubhouse roof and made the score 5-3. Eric Green then closed it out with a perfect ninth inning as the Miners took a 1-0 lead in the series.
Southern Illinois returns home to Rent One Park for game two on Saturday night at 7:05 p.m. looking to win the series and advance to the championship series. Pitcher of the Year Adam Lopez will take the hill for the Miners.
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.
