GATEWAY DEFEATS WASHINGTON IN DOMINANT ONE-HIT WIN

Gateway vs Washington

The fans at Wild Things Park on Tuesday night were nearly treated to history for the Gateway Grizzlies, as Lukas Veinbergs (3-0) carried a no-hitter into the ninth inning in his first professional start against the first-place team in the West Division. While he did not complete the feat, he did earn the win, as the Grizzlies beat the Washington Wild Things 4-0 for their third win in a row and fourth in their last five games. 

The offense got Veinbergs run support in the top of the second inning, as with two runners on and one out, Ian Bibiloni tripled to the right-center field gap to make it a 2-0 Gateway lead. Abdiel Diaz wasted no time in bringing Bibiloni home with a sacrifice fly on the first pitch he saw from Washington starter Hayden Pearce (4-5) making the score 3-0.  

The Grizzlies were able to score an insurance run in the top of the seventh inning on a bases-loaded walk by Isaac Benard for a 4-0 cushion, and Veinbergs took care of the rest. The right-hander from Pinckney, Michigan and the University of Missouri allowed five walks in the contest, but also struck out six, holding Washington's offense down until the ninth, when Jared Mang broke up the no-hitter with a double down the left field line.   

Washington also got the tying run to the plate in the inning by loading the bases, but Sam Gardner struck out the side to secure the save as Gateway pulled within one game of a playoff spot in the West Division standings with the series-opening road victory. 

Quebec vs New Jersey

On Tuesday night, the New Jersey Jackals kicked off a three-game set with the Quebec Capitales at Yogi Berra Stadium, looking to gain a winning streak after dropping two of three to the Lake Erie Crushers this past weekend. New Jersey handed the ball to Jorge Taveres (6-3) and Quebec turned to Carlos Sano (1-2). 

Quebec jumped on Tavares early when he gave up a three run homer to Jonathan Lacroix followed by a Josh McAdams single to put up four runs in the inning. 

The Jackals would slowly start inching back with a Dalton Combs groundout to allow Trevor Abrams to score. 

Josh Rehwaldt would then single to score Justin Wylie to make it 4-2. 

Quebec would add another run in the top of the sixth with a single from Marc-Antoine Lebreux.

However, the Jackals didnt give up, and score four runs in the bottom of the seventh with the help from Dalton Combs, Wylie, and Jason Agresti to make it 5-6.

New Jersey would add insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth when Agresti hit a double to score two and then followed up with an Alfredo Marte three-run homer making it 5-11 and leading the Jackals to their win against the Capitales.

Thomas Bruss gets his first career win in the Frontier League for the Jackals while Quebec's Carlos Sano gets charged with the loss. 

Trois-Rivières vs New York

The New York Boulders watched a late lead evaporate before pushing across the eventual winning run in the eighth inning as they downed the visiting Trois-Rivieres Aigles, 8-7, on Tuesday at Clover Stadium in Pomona.

The game was a sloppy one from start to finish with the Aigles charged with five errors, while the Boulders committed four miscues.

After watching a four-run lead disappear, the Boulders scored once in the bottom of the eighth to retake the lead at 8-7. Gabriel Garcia led off the frame with a single off of Aigles' reliever Josh Smith. The hit was Garcia's third of the evening. Chris Kwitzer followed with a single to put runners on the corner.

Francisco Del Valle then hit a grounder to second baseman Elliott Curtis, who elected to turn the double play allowing Garcia to score the lead run.

Leo Pineda came on to close out the win for the Boulders, earrning his fifth save of the season.

Zach Schneider got the win for New York, his first versus four losses on the year, while Josh Smith was tagged with the loss for Aigles, falling to 1-2 on the season.

Down 7-3 in the eighth, the Aigles rallied to tie the game, in part because of a pair of throwing errors by Boulders' third baseman Ray Hernandez. Facing reliever Ryan Munoz, Trois-Rivieres got an RBI single from Connor Panas to cut the deficit to 7-4. A sacrifice fly by Curtis made it 7-5 before a throwing error by Hernandez allowed Steve Brown to score to make it a 7-6 game,

A single by Canice Ejoh, his fourth hit of the night, off Zach Schneider, the fourth New York pitcher of the game, scored Juan Santana to even the game at 7-7.

Tied at 1-1 in the home half of the third inning, the Boulders took advantage of five walks issued by Aigles' starting pitcher Kevin Perez, as well as errors by left fielder L.P. Pelletier and shortstop Juan Santana to score three runs to take a 4-1 lead.

Both teams scored once in the first inning - Trois-Rivieres getting their run on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Raphael Gladu and the Boulders answering with an RBI single from Garcia.

Down 4-1 in the top of the fifth, the Aigles moved one run closer on a sacrifice fly by Pelletier, but the Boulders responded with a pair of runs in the bottom of the frame - one on a single by Hernandez and the other when Aigles' reliever Scott Gillespie uncorked a wild pitch that allowed Francisco Del Valle to score to male kit a 6-2 game.

Carlos Martinez' solo home run, his 15th long ball of the season, brought Trois-Rivieres within 6-3 in the sixth.

The Boulders got that run back in the seventh when, after a two-out double by David Vinsky, a roller to the mound by Austin Dennis was thrown away by Matt Reitz, the third Trois-Rivieres pitcher of the night.

Schaumburg vs Florence

With the bases loaded in the bottom of the tenth inning, Bryant Flete singled through the right side to deliver a 2-1 victory for the Florence Y'alls (29-37) over the Schaumburg Boomers (34-31) at Thomas More Stadium on Tuesday.

Flete, who scored extra-inning ghost-runner Alberti Chavez, drove in both Y'alls runs in the win. Furthermore, both runs were unearned against the Boomers' pitchers.

Flete's first RBI came with a bruise: the first baseman got hit by a Jumpei Akanuma pitch with the bases loaded in the fourth inning. He is a stellar 4-for-5 with the bases loaded this season.

Schaumburg scored the first run of the game, a William Salas single in the top of the fourth against Jonaiker Villalobos. In his 14th start of the season, Villalobos allowed just the one run in 5.2 innings. He struck out seven batters and walked only one.

The pitchers' duel turned into a bullpen duel at the finish, with the Y'alls using five relievers to combine for 4.1 scoreless frames and just two hits over that span. Cameron Pferrer, who dealt a scoreless tenth inning, earned the win. Schaumburg's Darrell Thompson takes the loss.

Evansville vs Lake Erie

It took extra innings for the Evansville Otters to grab a series-opening victory against the Lake Erie Crushers, 5-4.

Lake Erie wasted no time working away at Brice Stuteville, recording three straight base hits to open the game. The game's first score came on an RBI single from Jackson Valera.

Evansville responded in the second, leveling the game with an RBI double from Jeffrey Baez. After Zach Biermann gave the Otters the lead by scoring on a wild pitch, George Callil added to the lead with an RBI single. But the Otters' 3-1 lead did not last long.

In the bottom half of the third, the Crushers worked five straight men on base, retaking the lead. A two-run single from Jake Gitter once again tied the game - this time at 3-3. Bryan De Le Rosa gave Lake Erie their 4-3 lead with an RBI single one batter later.

The game saw a scoreless fourth inning before Evansville struck again in the fifth. Biermann tripled to right field, scoring Bryan Rosario to tie the game again. 

From there, the bullpens entered the game and the score stood still. Finally, the game saw its top opportunity in the bottom of the ninth, as Lake Erie had the bases loaded with just one out. A fielder's choice play at the plate and flyout got the Otters out of the inning defensively and into extra innings.

In the tenth, J.R. Davis kicked off the extra frame with a flyout to center, advancing the ghost runner Steven Sensley to third. Two batters later, Baez gave Evansville the lead with a fielder's choice to shortstop. 

Logan Sawyer entered for the Otters as Lake Erie came to bat. The ghost runner would not advance at all as Sawyer struck out all three batters faced to give Evansville the 5-4 win.

Augie Gallardo received the win in relief as the loss for Lake Erie fell on Sam Curtis. Sawyer threw for his league-leading 16th save of 2022 and 40th of his professional career.

Biermann was the only Otter with multiple hits in the game while Baez recorded a pair of RBIs. 

Empire State vs Sussex County

The Sussex County Miners (38-29) defeated the Empire State Greys (5-62) at Skylands Stadium by a score of 6-0, on Tuesday night. 

The Miners started their scoring early when Juan Silverio doubled to left field to allow the first run to score. Martin Figueroa would also hit a double to score the second run of the inning and make it 0-2. 

The Miners would continue in the third with a Figueroa single to make it 0-3. 

Sussex County would score the last three runs of the game in the eighth and would ultimately lead to their shutout win. 

Connor Dand got the win for Sussex County while Mizuki Akatsuka was charged with the loss. 

Joliet vs Windy City

Dan Robinson homered twice and Kenny Mathews tossed five shutout innings for the ThunderBolts as they took down the Joliet Slammers 9-5 in game one of a two-game set at Ozinga Field Tuesday night.

Peyton Isaacson got the scoring started for the ThunderBolts (26-40). The hot-hitting designated hitter singled home two runs in the bottom of the second inning to put the Bolts on top. 

Robinson piled on with his first homer of the night, a solo shot in the bottom of the third.

With the score still sitting at 3-0 in the fifth, Daryl Myers and newcomer Kole Kaler began the inning by drawing back-to-back walks. Robinson followed with a long shot to right field, giving him his second homer and four RBIs for the game. 

The ThunderBolts continued to increase their lead with an RBI single from Myers and an Isaacson home run and by the end of the seventh inning, it was a 9-0 lead. 

The Slammers (32-35) tried to make it interesting, plating five runs on five hits in the top of the eighth but it was too little too late for the visitors as the Bolts held on for the win. 

Mathews (5-3) allowed just two hits and struck out nine in his efficient five scoreless frames as he picked up his team-best fifth win. Spencer Johnston (1-2) lasted four innings and gave up three runs, taking the loss.

Ottawa vs Tri-City

The Tri-City ValleyCats started a six-game occupancy at The Joe on Tuesday night, welcoming the Ottawa Titans to Joseph L. Bruno Stadium for the first of three games.

Joey Gonzalez took the mound looking for his seventh victory of the 2022 season, opposing him was right hander Jose Tavares, who boasted a perfect 5-0 record coming into Tuesday evening's matchup.

The Titans would strike first, a three-run home run off the bat of third baseman AJ Wright gave Ottawa an early lead. However that's all the offensive production the Titans would muster in the game. 

Following a quiet first inning against Tavares, Brad Zunica would rip a solo home run on the first pitch he would see into deep right field, cutting the lead to 3-1. In the bottom of the third, Cito Culver would double to lead off the inning, Pavin Parks would single, advancing Culver to second. Denis Phipps would follow Parks with a walk, loading the bases for the ValleyCats first baseman. Tavares would leave a change up in the middle of the zone, allowing Zunica to drive it over the center field fence. Zunica's grand slam would plate his fifth RBI of the contest. Carson McCusker would cap off a five-run third inning with a 463 foot shot that left Joseph L. Bruno Stadium in its entirety. 

The 'Cats would extend their lead to 7-3 on an RBI single from left fielder Jesus Lujano in the bottom of the fifth inning, the only run driven in on the night that did not come by the way of the long ball. The 'Cats offense would remain stagnant in the sixth and seventh innings, only mustering a walk in the sixth by Pavin Parks. 

Following five and a third innings pitched from Gonzalez, the bullpen combination of Adam Hofacket, Neil Abbatiello, and Brett Hanewich would hold the Ottawa offense scoreless, only surrendering two hits over two and two thirds innings of work. 

Taking the 7-3 lead into their final at bat in the bottom of the eighth, Austin Elder would launch his first home run as a member of the ValleyCats, a solo shot to deep right center field. Kaleb Schmidt would walk Cito Culver, then Brantley Bell would extend his hitting streak to 16 games with a single. Phipps would work his second walk of the contest, loading the bases yet again for Zunica. The left hander would destroy a fastball from Schmidt into deep left center field, capping off Zunica's three home run, nine RBI night. 

Brac Warren would come in and retire the Titans in order to secure the series opening victory.