Grizzlies Snap Slide in Dominant Fashion
Gateway leads wire-to-wire, gets total team effort in blowout victory
CRESTWOOD, ILL. – The Gateway Grizzlies ended their five-game losing streak with a wire-to-wire victory over the Windy City Thunderbolts on Friday night, winning 10-1 to kick off their road trip at Ozinga Field.
The Grizzlies put a run on the board before an out was recorded, taking a 1-0 lead when Sawyer Smith drilled an RBI double to left field after a leadoff walk by Victor Castillo. Bryson Horne then doubled that lead with a sacrifice fly, scoring Smith after he had stolen third base to give Gateway a 2-0 advantage against Windy City's Liam Hohenstein (0-1) after one inning.
The top of the fourth saw the Grizzlies extend their lead in a big way. After back-to-back leadoff walks, Mitchell Sanford made the Thunderbolts pay with a three-run home run off the scoreboard in right field. Two batters and two pitches later, Cole Brannen deposited a homer over the right field wall himself, and the Grizzlies took a 7-0 lead.
Meanwhile, on the mound, Blake Peyton (2-2) returned off the injured list and turned in his best start of his rookie season. The southpaw faced the minimum number of batters across his five innings of work, carrying a no-hitter through four innings, only allowing a lone single and two walks with a career-best six strikeouts.
Gateway added on a single run in the sixth inning when José Alvarez opened the inning with a hustle double down the left field line, stole third base, and came home on a throwing error for an 8-0 lead.
After Windy City got a run back in the bottom of the sixth on an RBI bloop single, the Grizzlies continued to add on in the eighth inning. Gateway plated two more runs for a 10-1 lead, including an RBI double by Davie Morgan to score Brennan Orf, who walked and scored twice in his Grizzlies debut.
Ben Gregory did the rest, as the rookie right-hander, whose scheduled start last night against Florence was rained out, finished the game with four innings of one-run baseball, striking out a career-high five Thunderbolts to earn his first professional save.
Now back at .500 and 1.5 games back of the first-place ThunderBolts, the Grizzlies will look for back-to-back wins over Windy City on Saturday, June 27. Gage Vailes will get the starting assignment on the mound against the 'Bolts' Tyler Biddinger, with first pitch at Ozinga Field set for 6:05 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 2026 schedule can be found at frontierleague.com.