CRESTWOOD, IL – Erick Carillo held the ThunderBolts to just two hits over eight innings and they finished with only three as the Gateway Grizzlies took game two of the series 10-0 Saturday night at Standard Bank Stadium.
The Grizzlies began the scoring in the second inning on a Landon Hernandez solo home run. The next hitter, Case Rigby, singled and scored on a Johnny Aldaz double.
They extended their lead to 3-0 in the third on doubles for Derek Jennings and Charlie Lisk.
The ThunderBolts, meanwhile, only had one hit through the first six innings. Their only scoring threat came in the first when Nick Kuroczko reached on an error and Mike Torres blooped a base hit to put runners on first and second with one out, but Carillo got Zach Aakhus to ground into a double play to end the threat. The Bolts did not threaten again.
In the fifth, Jennings singled and stood at third with one out when Lisk’s fielder’s choice grounder scored him and gave Gateway a 4-0 lead.
That was the score into the eighth when the Grizzlies broke the game open with five runs on six hits. Hernandez, Aldaz and Jennings all had RBI hits and they were benefitted by four wild pitches in the inning as well. Overall, the ThunderBolts threw eight wild pitches as a staff.
In the ninth, Gateway added their final run on a Kent Gerst triple and Hernandez RBI single.
The ThunderBolts’ hits came from Torres, DJ Fitzgerald and Aakhus, all singles.
Bryant Cotton allowed four runs over five innings and took the loss (6-8) while Carillo picked up the win in his first Gateway start (3-2)
The finale of the three game series will be played on Sunday night at Standard Bank Stadium. It is Standard Bank Family Night meaning that four tickets, four hot dogs and four sodas are available for a total of just $40 when purchased at the box office. The pitching matchup will feature Guido Fonseca (2-10) for the ThunderBolts against Gateway’s Nolan Shaffer (5-4). The game can be heard on Sportsjuice.com.
