Grizzlies Power Their Way to Sixth Straight Win
Gateway gets quality outing from Veinbergs, three homers to take opener over Boomers
SAUGET, ILL. – 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.
After another team-wide offensive effort in which eight of the nine batters in the order had at least one hit, the Grizzlies will look to extend their win streak to seven in the middle game of the series on Saturday, July 19, at 6:30 p.m. CT. Gage Vailes will pitch for Gateway against Schaumburg right-hander Derek Salata at Arsenal BG Ballpark as the Grizzlies will look to win their first series against their West Division rivals this year.
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.