The Gateway Grizzlies smacked five home runs in the series finale on Sunday against the Joliet Slammers, and backed up the power with pitching, as Collin Sullivan (10-3) pitched a dominant seven innings in a 9-4 victory at Grizzlies Ballpark, lowering their magic number to clinch a spot in the 2023 Frontier League playoffs to seven.Â
After Sullivan struck out three of the first six hitters he faced, Gateway got to work offensively in the bottom of the second inning, scoring a pair of runs on four total hits, including RBI singles by Kyle Gaedele and Alex Hernandez, to take a 2-0 lead. The Grizzlies would expand that lead in three straight innings with the long ball- Eric Rivera’s solo shot off Joliet starter Ricky Castro (4-5) made it 3-0 in the third, with Gaedele and Hernandez each hitting homers in a three-run fourth inning to increase the lead to 6-0. Mark Vierling then smacked his first pro home run to right field in the fifth inning to make it a 7-0 game. Â
Meanwhile, Sullivan cruised through the Slammers’ lineup, allowing just two baserunners in the first five innings before a two-run home run by Christian Fedko broke up the shutout and made the score 7-2. Undaunted, Sullivan completed the sixth and then tossed a scoreless seventh, finishing with eight strikeouts to earn his Frontier League-leading 10th win of the season.Â
The Grizzlies would add single runs in the seventh and eighth on a wild pitch by Chandler Brierley following a Rivera triple as well as a solo home run by Cole Barr, respectively, to cap their scoring, while the Slammers added a two-run homer by Matt Warkentin in the ninth, but could not get closer as the Grizzlies won the series and finished 9-3 against the Slammers in 2023.Â
Closing in on their first playoff berth since 2012, the Grizzlies will head out on their final six-game road trip of the season on Tuesday, August 15, when they take on the Washington Wild Things in western Pennsylvania. Joey Gonzalez will get the start on the mound for the Grizzlies as they look to continue their winning ways.
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.
