The Gateway Grizzlies saw utilityman Andrew Penner play all nine defensive positions on Saturday night against the Lake Erie Crushers, but came up short in a 6-4 loss at Grizzlies Ballpark, evening up the final series of the regular season.
Both teams hit solo homers in the first inning to kick things off, with Mark Vierling hitting the first pitch from Yasel Santana (5-6) over the right field fence after Kenen Irizarry did the same in the top of the first against Carson LaRue (5-8). But Lake Erie would continue to score off the Gateway starter, with one run in the third inning on an error by Willie Estrada at third base with two outs, and two more runs in the fourth, taking a 4-1 lead.
With Penner matriculating around the diamond inning by inning, Gateway made a comeback in the middle frames, loading the bases for Joey Gonzalez, with last night’s winning pitcher getting an RBI on a fielder’s choice in his first professional at-bat to make it a 4-2 contest. Estrada then pulled the Grizzlies within a run at 4-3 on a sacrifice fly in the sixth inning.
But Gateway was unable to get over the hump, and in the top of the ninth, with Penner completing his night by starting the inning on the mound, the Crushers got their first two men on base and into scoring position before an error on a ground ball by Clint Freeman ended up plating both runners for a 6-3 lead. Those would turn out to be the winning runs as well, as Vierling took Trevor Kuncl deep to right field for his second homer of the night in the bottom of the ninth, but that is where the rally ended as Lake Erie held on for the 6-4 win.
The Grizzlies will look to win the series in the regular season finale on Sunday, September 3, at 6:05 p.m. CT when they host the Crushers for their annual Greatest Night In Baseball celebration. Parker Johnson will start the contest against the Crushers’ Jonaiker Villalobos, with giveaways for every single out of the game set to be distributed to lucky fans at Grizzlies Ballpark.
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.
