QUEBEC CITY, QUEBEC – The Gateway Grizzlies got yet another outstanding performance from Teague Conrad (3-0), as the rookie right-hander struck out a season-best nine Québec Capitales batters while the offense gave him consistent support in a 10-5 victory at Stade Canac on Friday night.
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After waiting through a two-hour, 12-minute rain delay prior to first pitch, the Grizzlies were able to strike in the top of the first inning to set the tone against Harley Gollert (1-2). Andrew Moritz and Gabe Holt led off the game with singles, and three batters later, D.J. Stewart lifted a sacrifice fly to right field to make it 1-0. The Capitales would respond in kind in the bottom of the first, as with two outs, Guillermo Garcia lined a double to left-center field to plate a pair of runs and give Québec a 2-1 lead.
But that lead did not last, as the Grizzlies’ offense kept on pounding away. In the second inning, Cole Brannen walked with one out, went to third base on an Abdiel Diaz single, and scored on a wild pitch to make it 2-2. In the third, Kevin Krause led off with a double, and Stewart drove him in on another single to put the Grizzlies ahead 3-2. Then, in the fourth, with the bases loaded and two outs, Stewart came up with a clutch, two-run single, expanding the Grizzlies lead to 5-2.
Conrad did the rest, as the first-year Grizzlie responded to the Garcia run-scoring double by retiring the next 10 batters he faced. Making only his fourth professional start, he would end up facing just two batters over the minimum for the final six innings he pitched, scattering four hits and two walks while setting a new career-high with nine strikeouts to notch his third straight victory on the mound.
The Gateway offense would score insurance runs in the seventh on a Diaz RBI single, and in the eighth on a bases-loaded walk by Mark Vierling, RBI infield single by Elias Stevens, RBI double by Brannen, and sacrifice fly by Moritz, making the score 10-2 Grizzlies. Québec would get three of those runs back in the bottom half of the inning on consecutive wild pitches as well as an RBI double by Justin Gideon, but would get no closer as the Grizzlies won for the first time in club history at Stade Canac.
Five Gateway batters finished with multi-hit games, led by Diaz’s four to tie his career-high. The Grizzlies’ offense also out-hit Québec 16 to seven in the contest en route to their second-straight win on their road trip through Canada.
The Grizzlies will next look to take the series from the two-time reigning Frontier League champion Capitales in the middle game of the set on Saturday, June 8. Tyler Cornett will pitch for Gateway against Québec’s Ryan Sandberg, with first pitch scheduled for 6:05 p.m. CT.
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