FLORENCE, KY. – The Gateway Grizzlies broke a 1-1 tie in the fourth inning on Thursday night at Thomas More Stadium, then busted open the game with a six-run sixth inning en route to a 10-2 victory over the Florence Y’alls on the road, and a series sweep in Florence for the first time since 2011.
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In the first inning, Cole Brannen walked and Gabe Holt was hit in the back by Florence starter Joe Kemlage (1-2). Two batters later, a Peter Zimmermann RBI groundout made the score 1-0 Grizzlies. The Y’alls would equalize in the bottom half, however, using a one-out error and three walks by Deylen Miley to plate the tying run. Miley, however would minimize the damage to one run, keeping the score tied with a pair of strikeouts in the inning.
In the fourth, D.J. Stewart came up against Kemlage, and led off with a mammoth solo home run to left field that not only gave the Grizzlies a 2-1 lead, and put them up for good, but also extended his hit streak to 15 games in a row dating back to last year.
Then in the sixth, after Kemlage was taken out of the game, the Grizzlies pounced. A leadoff error on Florence third baseman Brian Fuentes eventually opened the door for a six-run inning that made the score 8-1 Grizzlies. In the frame, both Jack-Thomas Wold and Andrew Moritz drew bases-loaded walks off Ryan Steckline, and Brannen and Holt came up with two-out RBI hits to cap the big frame.
Wold would hit a two-run home run to get the Grizzlies their ninth and tenth runs in the seventh inning, while Florence’s Ashton Creal led off the bottom of the inning with a solo shot of his own, but that was enough for the final margin, as the Grizzlies capped off the road sweep in Northern Kentucky.
Having now won three games in a row and four of their last five contests, the Grizzlies will look to keep the momentum rolling into the weekend when they face off against the Washington Wild Things in Pennsylvania. Collin Sullivan will start the opening game on Friday, May 24, at 6:05 p.m. CT, opposed by Washington ace left-hander Kobe Foster at Wild Things Park.
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The Gateway Grizzlies are a professional baseball team, located a mere 10 minutes from downtown St. Louis in Sauget, Illinois. The Grizzlies offer baseball fans affordable, family fun at Grizzlies Ballpark with a great view of the St. Louis skyline. They have also won two Frontier League Organization of the Year Awards, four West Division titles, and the 2003 Frontier League Championship. For tickets or general information, please visit gatewaygrizzlies.com or call (618) 337-3000.
The Frontier League debuted in 1993, and is the largest of the Major League Baseball Partner Leagues, featuring teams stretching from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mississippi River, and from the Ohio River to the St. Lawrence Seaway. More information and the complete 2024 schedule can be found at frontierleague.com.
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