O’FALLON, MO–While the River City Rascals got off to a rough start this season, they more than made up for it on Tuesday night with a 7-0 shellacking of the Traverse City Beach Bums in their Home Opener at CarShield Field. The team rolled behind a magnificent performance from Scott Grist, in his team debut. Grist allowed just one hit in seven innings, striking out four and only walking one. Rascals relievers Tanner Wilt and Joe Iorio preserved the shutout with a scorless inning each.
Zach Lavy got the scoring started for the Rascals with a two-run homer in the first inning. After Taylor Love added an RBI fielder’s choice in the second inning, Clint Freeman hit an RBI single and Gerrion Grim added a sacrifice fly in the third to make it 5-0. Kevin Suarez tacked on an RBI fielder’s choice of his own in the fourth inning, and scored later in the frame on a wild pitch to make it 7-0. The Beach Bums were held to just two hits on the night.
Traverse City starter Adam Cornwell (0-1) took the loss in his Frontier League debut, allowing five earned runs in just three innings.
Lavy, Stephen Kerr and JD Hearn each recorded two hits in the game for the Rascals, and Suarez, Kerr and Hearn each registered a double.
The Rascals (1-2) host the Beach Bums (2-2) in Game 2 of the series tomorrow night, with first pitch scheduled for 6:35 pm CT. Reggie Johnson is expected to make the start on the mound for the Rascals, in his team debut.
