The Gateway Grizzlies went to extra innings for the first time this season at GCS Credit Union Ballpark on Friday night, and won 4-3 over the Windy City ThunderBolts on a walk-off wild pitch in the bottom of the tenth, breaking their three-game losing streak overall and recording their first win on a Friday since opening night in Sauget.
Lukas Veinbergs was sharp on the mound early for Gateway, pitching three perfect innings to begin the ballgame with five strikeouts. With two outs in the bottom of the third inning, Abdiel Diaz singled and Andrew Penner followed with a two-run home run to give the Grizzlies an early 2-0 lead.
After a scoreless fourth inning, Windy City got on the board in the top of the fifth inning on a Jonathan Nieves RBI single, the only run Veinbergs allowed in five and two-thirds innings while striking out a career-high 10. But Gateway quickly responded in the bottom of the frame when Alex Hernandez launched a solo home run to left field for his first professional home run and a 3-1 Gateway lead.
The ThunderBolts would rally late, however. In the eighth with one out, Jairus Richards reached first base on an infield single and advanced to second on an error on the same play. With two outs in the inning, Richards then stole third base and scored on another error to make it 3-2. In the ninth, Sam Gardner (6-2) came on for the save and struck out the first two batters he faced, but Brian Klein hit a game-tying solo home run to right-center field to make it 3-3.
In the tenth with the International Tiebreaker in effect, Gardner stayed in and stranded the automatic runner on third base, keeping the game tied. Jay Prather then advanced safely to third base on a Hernandez bunt, and with Diaz at the plate and a 2-0 count, Ryan Miller (1-2) threw a wild pitch in the turf to bring home Prather and give the Grizzlies the victory, snapping a streak of 12 straight defeats in games played on Friday.
Gateway will look to pick up a series win in the middle game against the ThunderBolts on Saturday night, August 20, at 6:45 p.m. CT. Steven Ridings will make the start on the mound for Gateway against Miguel Ausua for Windy City.
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.
