Grizzlies Come Back Yet Again, Sweep Washington

Gateway plates final six runs to finish off first home sweep of 2025 

SAUGET, ILL. – The Gateway Grizzlies were down 4-0 in the third inning of the series finale against the Washington Wild Things at Arsenal BG Ballpark on Thursday night, but a big crowd of 4,619 watched the home team come back for the third time in the series to record a 6-4 victory, clinching the Grizzlies' first sweep at home in 2025 and their third overall.

St. Charles, Missouri native Andrew Schwaab struggled early on the mound, allowing a two-out solo home run to Tommy Caufield to put the visitors up in the top of the first inning for the third day in a row at 1-0. In the third inning, the Wild Things chased Schwaab from the game, scoring three runs on back-to-back RBI hits by Tyreque Reed and Andrew Czech to increase their lead to 4-0.

But Claudio Galva (3-1) stabilized things out of the bullpen, tossing two and two-thirds scoreless frames with three strikeouts, setting the table for yet another Gateway rally. With two outs, Victor Castillo broke his bat and blooped an RBI single out to shallow left field, putting the Grizzlies on the board against Wild Things starter Sebastian Rodriguez (0-1) in the bottom of the third inning.

Now down 3-1 in the game, the Grizzlies used back-to-back hit-by-pitches from Rodriguez to kickstart the comeback in the bottom of the fourth inning. Edwin Mateo made the score 3-2 with an RBI single, and after he stole second, Cole Brannen came up clutch against his former team with a game-tying two-run double to left-center field. With two outs later in the inning, Jose Alvarez stayed hot with an RBI single to right field, making the score 5-4 Grizzlies.

That put the home side ahead for good, although Washington got the tying run at least on base in every inning for the rest of the game. Alec Whaley followed Galva in the sixth with a scoreless frame, and Alvery De Los Santos did the same in the seventh. In the eighth inning, Czech led off with a double, and was at third base with no outs against Francis Peguero, but the right-hander got out of the jam with back-to-back strikeouts.

In the ninth, after Gateway plated an insurance run on an Abdiel Diaz sacrifice fly in the bottom of the eighth to go ahead 6-4, Keegan Collett retired the first two batters he faced, then gave up back-to-back singles and threw a wild pitch, putting the tying run in scoring position. But he struck out Reed looking to end the game, and nail down his sixth save of the year.

Now winners of seven of their last eight games overall, the Grizzlies will look to stay hot when they host the Lake Erie Crushers in Sauget for a weekend series beginning on Friday, July 4. Gage Vailes will start the opener against Lake Erie ace Anthony Escobar, with first pitch scheduled for 7:05 p.m. CT.

The Gateway Grizzlies are a professional baseball team, located a mere 10 minutes from downtown St. Louis in Sauget, Illinois. The Grizzlies offer baseball fans affordable, family fun at Arsenal BG Ballpark with a great view of the St. Louis skyline. They have also won two Frontier League Organization of the Year Awards, four West Division titles, and the 2003 Frontier League Championship. For tickets or general information, please visit gatewaygrizzlies.com or call (618) 337-3000.

The Frontier League debuted in 1993, and is the largest of the Major League Baseball Partner Leagues, featuring teams stretching from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mississippi River, and from the Ohio River to the St. Lawrence Seaway. More information and the complete 2025 schedule can be found at frontierleague.com.