Slammers take last away game against Grizzlies in dominating fashion
By: Braeden Jones
SAUGET, IL – The Slammers get the game they have been looking for all season as they show the Grizzlies who’s boss and leave Arsenal BG Ballpark behind with a 14-5 victory on Thursday.Grizzlies’ (3-3) leadoff hitter Victor Castillo showed why he was the first man up as he hit a solo home run in the bottom of the 1st to give Gateway an early 1-0 lead, looking to fire up his team.
Castillo fired up the wrong team, however, as after an RBI single by Brandon Heidal, Slammers’ (2-4) Ian Battipaglia cleared the bases with an electric grand slam in the top of the 2nd inning. This marked the first and only grand slam seen during this three-game series and gave Joliet a strong 5-1 lead.
The Grizzlies began to respond in the bottom of the 3rd inning as a Sawyer Smith single paved the way for Mark Shallenberger to hit a two-run homer. The next batter was quickly retired, but Gateway had started to close the gap as the Slammers now only led by two with a score of 5-3.
Shallenberger closed the gap even further as he hit another home run in his following at-bat in the bottom of the 6th. This one was only a solo shot, but it still put the Grizzlies in striking distance as they were now only down one.
Joliet’s Josh Phillips decided to strike himself before Gateway could see the ball again, as he hit a three-run no-doubter to bring the lead to 8-4 after seven innings.
The Slammers poured on the scores after that, with AJ Orrico hitting a 3-RBI double to clear the bases and Brandon Heidal immediately hitting a double himself, scoring Orrico. This ended the top of the 8th inning with Joliet having a 12-4 lead, and also marked the second straight time the Slammers had all nine of their batters hit in a single inning.
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Bryson Horne looked to give his team life as he hit a one-run homer in the bottom of the 8th inning to give the Grizzlies their fifth run of the game, continuing the trend of all scores coming from home runs this game for Gateway. Unfortunately, that was the only hit that inning for the Grizzlies, leaving the score at 12-5.
Cam Suto saw the opportunity to add his name to the scoring column as he hit a two-run home run in the top of the 9th to end off Joliet’s hitting for the day.
The Grizzlies were able to muster two singles in the bottom of the 9th inning, but Slammers’ relief pitcher Greyson Linderman struck out three batters and ended the game with Joliet going home happy with a 14-5 blowout.
After the dominating win to close the three-game series against Gateway, the Slammers will return home to begin play against the Trois-Rivières Aigles on May 15th in the start of a three-game series at Slammers Stadium. After still winning two of the three matchups against Joliet, the Grizzlies stay in Sauget as they begin a three-game series against the Windy City ThunderBolts on May 15th.
