CRESTWOOD, ILL. – The Gateway Grizzlies got outstanding performances from their veterans on Sunday afternoon, with Zac Treece (3-2) tossing six shutout innings with a season-high six strikeouts, and shortstop Abdiel Diaz setting a new career-best with five hits in a 5-1 victory over the Windy City ThunderBolts in the rubber game of the weekend series at Ozinga Field.
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Gateway led the contest wire-to-wire. Jose Alvarez opened the proceedings against former Grizzlie Greg Duncan (2-6) with a single in the first inning, and after Victor Castillo walked, Diaz reached on a bunt single, with a throwing error by Oscar Serratos on the same play scoring Alvarez to make it 1-0. Mark Shallenberger followed with a walk to load the bases, and D.J. Stewart cashed in with a two-run single to make the score 3-0 Gateway, all before a single out was recorded in the game.
The Grizzlies would take a 4-0 advantage in the top of the fifth on a two-out RBI single by Stewart, giving the third-year Gateway infielder three RBIs on the day, and Gabe Holt completed their scoring on a solo home run leading off the eighth inning to make the score 5-0.
Meanwhile, the pitching staff dominated. Treece retired the first nine batters he faced, and ended up allowing just two singles and one walk in six innings, striking out a season-best six and throwing just 74 pitches in the game, 51 of which were strikes.
After perfect relief innings by Matt Hickey and Claudio Galva, Windy City broke up the shutout with two outs in the ninth inning on an RBI single by Daryl Ruiz against Xander Lovin. Now up 5-1, Keegan Collett was summoned from the bullpen, and the all-star threw just one pitch to earn his ninth save of the year, getting Serratos to fly out to center to seal the win.
Diaz was the hitting star of the day for Gateway, going a perfect 5-for-5 with two runs scored and a stolen base, while Stewart finished 2-for-4 with three runs driven in, giving the all-star a team-best 58 on the year.
Stice Shines, but Grizzlies Blanked at Windy City
Gateway cannot overcome mistakes in middle game loss
CRESTWOOD, ILL. – The Gateway Grizzlies were shut out for only the third time all season long on Saturday night at Ozinga Field, falling 2-0 to the Windy City ThunderBolts to break a four-game win streak.
Bennett Stice (2-2) was in command early, shutting out the Windy City offense through the first four innings, but a one-out error by D.J. Stewart in the bottom of the fifth was followed by a double to left-center field by Josh Gibson, scoring the game’s first run to make it 1-0. The run would also remain unearned, and was the only tally the rookie right-hander allowed across six and two-thirds innings for a “quality start.”
The Grizzlies’ offense, meanwhile, had a few chances to get on the board against Windy City left-hander Isaac Milburn in his pro debut. Edwin Mateo led off the second inning with a double, but was eventually thrown out at home on a fielder’s choice by Oscar Serratos in the frame.
Then, in the top of the sixth inning, Cole Brannen walked to lead off, but was picked off immediately by Milburn, proving costly when the next two batters- Jose Alvarez and Gabe Holt both got on base to put the tying run at second with one out.
Gateway was unable to capitalize on that chance, and after a rare run against Alec Whaley scored with two outs in the bottom of the eighth, they were also unable to score in the ninth despite getting the tying run to the plate right away on a leadoff single by Mark Shallenberger, suffering their third shutout loss all season and first since late June at Lake Erie.
Grizzlies Win Fourth Straight, Take Opener from Windy City
Gateway amasses 14 hits to top Pindel, ThunderBolts on Friday night
CRESTWOOD, ILL. – The Gateway Grizzlies kept their winning ways going, improving to 4-0 on their road trip in Chicago by taking down the Windy City ThunderBolts 6-1 on Friday night at Ozinga Field.
Tasked with facing ThunderBolts’ ace Buddie Pindel (4-6) in the conetst, the Grizzlies opened the scoring early in the top of the second inning. D.J. Stewart doubled inside the first base bag, and went to third base on a bunt single by Victor Castillo. With runner at the corners and no outs, an RBI groundout by Dale Thomas scored Stewart to make it 1-0, and after Castillo stole third base moments later, he came in to score on a sacrifice fly by Edwin Mateo for a 2-0 advantage.
In the fourth inning, Cole Brannen stayed hot with a two-out double, and he scored one pitch later on an RBI single by Jose Alvarez in his return to the lineup, making the score 3-0. Then, in the sixth with Thomas on first base, Brannen singled into center field with one out, with Michael Sandle committing a fielding error that allowed Thomas to come all the way around to score, increasing the Gateway lead to 4-0.
All the early offense gave Gage Vailes (4-1) stout run support, with the right-hander bouncing back on the mound by allowing just one hit and striking out six in his first five innings of work. Windy City got on the board in the sixth on an RBI double by James Dunlap to make it a 4-1 ballgame, but Gateway responded right away in the top of the seventh on a two-out RBI double by Castillo, pushing the lead back to four runs at 5-1, and knocking Pindel out of the game.
Things got tense in the bottom of the seventh, as Leoni De La Cruz walked the bases loaded with two outs in the frame, but with the tying run at the plate, Matt Hickey struck out Sandle to preserve the Grizzlies lead, and proceeded to retire all six batters he faced the rest of the way while amassing a career-high six strikeouts to earn the save.
The Grizzlies’ final run came in the ninth, when Abdiel Diaz crushed a solo home run to right field to extend his hit streak to 10 games in a row as the Grizzlies improved to 11-1 in series openers away from Sauget in 2025.
Now possessing a 42-22 record, and having won five straight series dating back to before the all-star break as well as 21 of their last 25 games overall, the Grizzlies will return home to Sauget for 16 of their next 19 games on their home turf, kicking off a 10-game home stand on Tuesday, July 29 against the Joliet Slammers at Arsenal BG Ballpark. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. CT.
