The Gateway Grizzlies dug themselves into an early hole again, allowing four runs in the third inning, and could not get themselves out of it as they fell to the first-place Washington Wild Things by a final score of 6-4 Friday night at GCS Credit Union Ballpark, taking their third consecutive loss.
The first two innings were scoreless as the game started as a pitchers’ duel between Gateway starter Brendan Feldmann (6-7) and Washington starter Stephen Knapp (3-2). But the Wild Things struck first in the top of the third when Jared Mang led off with a solo home run. Then, with two outs and the bases empty, Washington got four consecutive hits, including a two-run single from Wagner Lagrange and an RBI single from Andrew Czech to make it 4-0. Two innings later, Scotty Dubrule drove in Nick Ward on a sacrifice fly to increase the Washington lead to 5-0.
The Grizzlies responded in the bottom of the fifth by manufacturing a run when Ian Bibiloni led off with a double, moved to third base on a sacrifice bunt by Abdiel Diaz, and scored on an RBI groundout by Jay Prather to make it 5-1. In the bottom of the seventh with one out, Clint Freeman launched his 15th home run of the season, a solo home run to right field, to make it 5-2.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, Prather and Andrew Penner hit back-to-back singles, and with two outs, Kevin Krause came up clutch with a double down the left field line, scoring both runners and getting the Grizzlies to within one run at 5-4.
But Washington would add an insurance run in the top of the ninth inning to make it 6-4, and Lukas Young retired the Grizzlies in order in the bottom half, securing the series-opening win for the Wild Things.
The Gateway Grizzlies will look to snap their slide on Saturday night, August 13, at 6:45 p.m. at GCS Credit Union Ballpark, with reigning Frontier League Pitcher of the Week Lukas Veinbergs making his third start on the mound against Justin Showalter for Washington.
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.
