The Gateway Grizzlies took a big lead on Saturday night at Grizzlies Ballpark, watched the Tri-City ValleyCats nearly come all the way back, then roared late with five two-out runs in the bottom of the eighth inning for a 13-7 win, the club’s first in five tries against Tri-City.
The Grizzlies broke the scoreless tie in the bottom of the second inning on D.J. Stewart’s RBI sac fly. Alex Hernandez then singled home another run on the next pitch to make it 2-0. An RBI infield single by Cito Culver got Tri-City on the board and made it 2-1 in the top of the third, but the Grizzlies responded by batting around and scoring four runs in the bottom of the inning on an RBI double by Clint Freeman, two-run single by Peter Zimmermann, and an RBI hit by Stewart, taking a 6-1 lead.
The Grizzlies would respond again to a Tri-City run in the top of the fifth with two in the bottom half on a Jairus Richards two-run home run, making the score 8-2. After tossing a brilliant game on the mound in the first five frames, Lukas Veinbergs (3-2) ran into trouble in the top of the sixth, as after a leadoff walk and double, Pavin Parks hit a three-run home run to cut the Gateway lead in half, making the score 8-5.
Tri-City did not stop there- in the top of the eighth, the ValleyCats scored two more runs on a balk by Trevor Tietz and an RBI single by Jaxon Hallmark, making it an 8-7 game, and putting the tying run and potential lead run in scoring position. But Colton Easterwood struck out Culver looking to preserve the slim margin.
The Grizzlies then busted the game wide open in the bottom of the eighth- with two outs and a man on second base, the ValleyCats intentionally walked Freeman to pitch to Zimmermann, who came through with an RBI single to left field for a 9-7 lead. Andrew Penner then followed with a two-run triple down the right field line, and Richards followed Penner with his second two-run home run of the night, clanking the shot off the right field foul pole for the final 13-7 margin. Easterwood then finished it off with a perfect ninth inning, as the Grizzlies evened the series at one game apiece.
Offensively, Zimmermann finished 3-for-5 with three runs scored and three RBIs, while Richards went 2-for-5 with three runs scored and four RBIs to tie his career-high along with his third-career multi-homer game. Penner also reached base five times, going 3-for-3 with two runs scored and two RBIs.
The Grizzlies will go for the series win in a rubber game against the ValleyCats on Sunday, June 11, at 1:05 p.m. CT. Carson LaRue will pitch in the series finale for the Grizzlies against Tri-City’s Rafi Vazquez 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.
