Comeback Falls Short in Opener at Gateway
SAUGET, Il. (June 23) – The Gateway Grizzlies held on in the series opener Friday in Sauget by a final of 9-6 besting Washington after building a 9-1 lead.
Washington struck first in the opener of the set on a solo home run by Tristan Peterson in the first inning, but after that, at least until the eighth, it was all Grizzlies. Gateway scored on an Andrew Penner RBI single in the first, a bunt double by Abdiel Diaz and a sac fly in the second and then scored five times in the fourth highlighted by a two-run homer by Gabe Holt and a two-RBI single by Zach Racusin to make it 8-1. The Grizzlies then tacked one their ninth in the sixth on a Racusin single.
Washington was able to creep closer in the eighth on RBI groundouts by Tommy Caufield and Jack Cone, the latter of which was the first pro RBI for Cone. Then Washington scored on a Peterson RBI knock to make it 9-4. Back-to-back homers by Wagner Lagrange and Andrew Czech in the ninth brought the tally to the final of 9-6, as Washington got another baserunner but failed to get any closer in the defeat.
Robert Gonzalez suffered the loss after allowing nine hits and eight runs in four innings of work. Carson LaRue got the win after five innings of one-run ball.
The middle game of the series is tomorrow at 7:45/6:45 p.m. CT.
