ThunderBolts drop Sunday rubber match to Grizzlies
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CRESTWOOD, Ill. – Despite out-hitting the Gateway Grizzlies 12-9, the Windy City ThunderBolts came out on the losing side of a Sunday matinee at Ozinga Field, falling 9-5 in the series finale.
For a third consecutive game, Gateway (22-22) was the first team to score. The Grizzlies scored twice in the top of the first inning on the back of a double and three free passes to take an early 2-0 lead.
Windy City (23-20) answered with a run in the home half of the frame, as Victor Cerny singled in Michael Sandle to cut the early Gateway lead in half.
The Grizzlies extended their lead in the top of the third with two more runs on a two-run single from Davie Morgan before the ThunderBolts once again answered in the bottom half of the inning. Back-to-back RBI singles from Liam McArthur and James Dunlap pulled the Bolts back to within one run as the game entered the middle innings.
Gateway got a lone run of insurance in the fifth, the sixth and the eighth before the Bolts began their attempt at a comeback in the bottom of the eighth inning. A second RBI single of the afternoon from Dunlap, as well as a Michael Sandle RBI base knock, made it a 7-5 game entering the ninth.
In the ninth inning, the Grizzlies plated two crucial insurance runs to take a four-run lead into the bottom of the ninth, where the ThunderBolts left runners on first and second en route to dropping the series finale 9-5.
Julio Ortiz (2-1) picked up the win out of the bullpen for Gateway, striking out four batters in two complete innings of work. Francis Ferguson was tagged with the loss, dropping to 1-5 on the season for Windy City.
The ThunderBolts return to action Tuesday for the first of a three-game series against the Florence Y’alls. Rookie AJ Campbell (5-1, 3.71) gets the start for the Bolts. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. and broadcast information is available at wcthunderbolts.com.
