SAUGET – The Gateway Grizzlies erased a 5-1 deficit in the bottom of the fifth inning with a wild, nine-run frame, and held the lead from there on out in a 12-7 victory over the Schaumburg Boomers on Saturday night at Arsenal BG Ballpark, notching their seventh win in a row.
Get The Latest News!
Don't miss our top stories and need-to-know news everyday in your inbox.
After Gateway’s series-opening win on Friday night, the Boomers batted around in the top of the second inning against Gage Vailes, scoring the game’s first four runs on five total hits. The Grizzlies would get a run back on a two-out RBI single by Jose Alvarez to make it 4-1, but Schaumburg turned a leadoff hit-by-pitch from Claudio Galva (5-1) into a fifth run in the top of the fourth inning on a sacrifice fly by Anthony Calarco.
That is where the score stayed until the bottom of the fifth inning, when the craziness began with a bloop double by Cole Brannen to left field on an 0-2 pitch by Boomers starter Derek Salata (4-5). Alvarez followed with a walk, and Abdiel Diaz fought Salata for 10 pitches before hitting a ground ball up the first base line that was mishandled for an error by Calarco, loading the bases with no outs. Mark Shallenberger then hit a ball to the shifted second baseman Will Prater, who tossed the ball towards second base to try and begin a double-play. His throw ended up in the Schaumburg bullpen for another error, allowing everyone on base to come in to score and drawing the Grizzlies within 5-4.
The next batter, D.J. Stewart, hit a ground ball to third base, and Andrew Sojka’s throw to first skipped away from Calarco for the third Boomers error in a row, scoring Shallenberger from second base and tying the game at 5-5. After Victor Castillo reached first base on a bunt single, and Dale Thomas struck out for the first out of the inning, Edwin Mateo came up with his second go-ahead hit of the series, an infield single to first base that put the Grizzlies up 6-5.
Remarkably, things did not end there. After a pitching change and another strikeout, a passed ball on Sam Kuchinski made the score 7-5, and Brannen battled Nick Paciorek for seven pitches before cracking a deep, two-run home run to right field to make it 9-5 Gateway. Alvarez and Diaz then earned singles, and a balk by Paciorek capped the ridiculous, nine-run inning for the Grizzlies after six hits, three errors, and 12 total batters sent to the plate.
From there, Gateway was able to plate two more runs on solo shots to right field in the sixth and eighth innings by Stewart to complete their scoring, giving the all-star his 12th and 13th long balls of the season and the Grizzlies their fifth and sixth homers of the series. Sojka would also finish the Boomers’ scoring with a deep two-run home run in the top of the eighth, but it was not enough to deny the Grizzlies their 20th come-from-behind win or their first series victory over Schaumburg on the year.
Grizzlies Power Their Way to Sixth Straight Win
The Gateway Grizzlies hit three home runs offensively, and got a season-best nine strikeouts in six strong innings on the mound from Lukas Veinbergs (4-3) to record a 9-3 victory over the Schaumburg Boomers on Friday night at Arsenal BG Ballpark. With the win, the club’s season-high sixth in a row, Gateway pulls into a tie atop the West Division standings with the Boomers as well.
Veinbergs got things rolling by striking out four batters in the first two innings, and after fanning the side in order to work around a double and a walk in the second frame, Gateway got on the board in the bottom half when Edwin Mateo clubbed a three-run home run to right field off Schaumburg starter Quinlan Wiley (3-2), putting Gateway up 3-0. In the next inning, after the Boomers got a run back on a two-out RBI single by Anthony Calarco, Mark Shallenberger stepped up with a man on base and hit his team-leading 12th long ball of the season out to right field, making the score 5-1 Grizzlies.
Cole Brannen would follow one inning later with a two-run homer of his own, his sixth of the season, to increase the margin to 7-1. Meanwhile, Veinbergs would keep the strikeouts coming, eventually finishing with nine in six innings of work to give him 17 batters fanned over his last two starts combined.
Both teams would plate runs late, with the Boomers adding another two-out run in the top of the eighth to make it 7-2 only for the Grizzlies to tack on two more runs in the bottom half on RBI singles by Paxton Wallace and Abdiel Diaz. Schaumburg would also score a run in the ninth, but were unable to get closer as Gateway won their third series opening game in as many tries against the Boomers in 2025.
Grizzlies Settle For Series Victory, Win Streak Halted
The Gateway Grizzlies had a chance to sweep the Schaumburg Boomers on Sunday night, but fell behind 3-0 in the first inning and were not able to recover in a 5-2 loss at Arsenal BG Ballpark, snapping their seven-game win streak and dropping them back into a first-place tie in the West Division.
Bennett Stice (2-1) struggled right away in the game, as a leadoff walk followed by three straight hits and a double play plated three runs for the Boomers to put Gateway into an early multi-run deficit. The right-hander would bounce back and end up pitching six innings in the contest, but Schaumburg would also add single runs in the third on an RBI single with two outs by Christian Fedko, and the fourth on a short-porch solo shot by Banks Tolley, making the score 5-0.
A shorthanded Gateway lineup, meanwhile, struggled to muster any offense against Cole Cook (6-3). In the bottom of the fifth, the Grizzlies were able to get on the board when Cole Brannen doubled with one out, and ended up scoring on a two-out RBI single by Gabe Holt off the glove of the shortstop to make the score 5-1. In the next inning, Paxton Wallace got his third hit of the game against his former Boomers teammate with a solo home run to left field, cutting the deficit to 5-2.
After Cook departed, the Grizzlies also made a push in the bottom of the eighth against the Boomers’ bullpen, loading the bases on a walk and two hit batters to put the tying run on first with just one out. But Dylan Stutsman got out of the jam with a strikeout and a flyout, and after a leadoff single by Holt in the ninth against Mitch White, a double play and another flyout ended the game, sealing only the Grizzlies’ fourth loss in their last 19 games overall.
The Grizzlies ended up outhitting the Boomers for the third night in a row in the series, but could not come up with the big hit all night, stranding 11 runners on base, their most in a loss this year.
Having still won the series against Schaumburg, Gateway will look to bounce back on the road against the other two Chicagoland teams in the West Division, beginning a six-game trip on Tuesday, July 22, with the first of a three-game series against the Joliet Slammers. Ben Harris will make the start for Gateway against Joliet left-hander C.J. Blowers, with first pitch at Slammers Stadium scheduled for 6:35 p.m. CT.
