The Gateway Grizzlies got six strong innings from Collin Sullivan and outstanding relief pitching as well, holding the Florence Y’alls to a single run on five hits en route to a 5-1 win at Grizzlies Ballpark on Tuesday night, snapping the visitors’ five-game win streak in the process.
Sullivan (9-3) allowed a run in the first inning when Brian Fuentes hit an RBI double off the top of the right-center field wall to score Brennan Price from first base and give Florence a 1-0 lead. But that would be the only run he allowed on the night in winning his Frontier League-leading ninth game of the season, striking out seven and walking two.
Offensively, D.J. Stewart smacked a go-ahead, two-run home run out to right-center field to put the Grizzlies ahead 2-1 in the bottom of the second. Jake McMahill (2-5) would settle in from there, retiring 10 batters in a row at one point, but Gateway got to him in his final inning once again for insurance on the lead. Kyle Gaedele hit a solo home run leading off the bottom of the seventh, and two batters later, after Stewart singled and stole second base, Alex Hernandez came through with an RBI single to make it a 4-1 Grizzlies lead.
Gateway would score their final run on a two-out error by Florence reliever Aaron Rund in the bottom of the eighth, while on the mound, Trevor Tietz, Alec Whaley, and Brian Eichhorn held the fort. With the win as well as losses by Washington, Evansville, and Schaumburg on the night, the Grizzlies lowered their magic number to clinch their first playoff spot in 11 years down to 12, while also increasing their lead atop the West Division to three games and improving their record at home this season to 28-9.
The Grizzlies will look to maintain that momentum on Wednesday, August 9, at 6:45 p.m. CT, when they face the Y’alls in the middle game of the three-game series. Joey Gonzalez will pitch for Gateway against right-hander Carter Spivey of Florence.
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.
