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Miners Shut Out Florence For Series Win

by Jason Guerette

The Southern Illinois Miners got six innings of shutout ball from Jarett Miller and two home runs to clinch their seventh consecutive series win on the road with a 4-0 win over the Florence Freedom on Sunday in Kentucky.

Miller (1-1) bounced back from a loss in his first start on Tuesday to pitch a gem on Father’s Day for the Miners, who improved to 11-4 away from Rent One Park with the win. The right-hander walked one and gave up only four hits in six-plus innings while striking out seven to earn his first win as a Miner in the contest.

His outing was backed up by two home runs. In the third inning, Toby DeMello hit a solo shot out to left field for his second homer of the season and a 1-0 Miners lead. In the fifth, after a strikeout for the first out of the inning by Florence pitcher Coleman Stephens (2-4), the Miners struck again. Ryan DiMascio got on with a single and Aaron Gates followed with a walk before Michael Earley launched a towering blast over the left field fence, a three-run homer that put the Miners up 4-0 to stay. The long balls were the fifth and sixth homers of the series for the Miners, the most they have had this year in a single series.

Pete Perez and Will Rankin shut the Florence offense down after Miller left the game in the late innings as the Miners won their seventh consecutive road series dating back to last August. They have now also won 11 of their last 12 road series going back to last July, marking the first time in team history the Miners have won 11 road series in a span of any 12. The weekend set also marks just the second time the Miners had taken a series from Florence on the road since 2010, when the Miners swept the Freedom for the final three games of their Frontier League-record 20-game winning streak that season.

The Miners will next head back home for another six-game homestand beginning on Tuesday night at 7:05 p.m. against the Traverse City Beach Bums, who lead the Miners by just one game in the East Division standings entering the series. Reigning Frontier League Pitcher of the Year Matt Bywater will toe the rubber that night against Traverse City’s Alex Phillips.

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Jason Guerette is the Grizzlies' Director of Broadcasting and Media Relations and the "Voice of the Grizzlies." 2023 will be his second season with the organization, handling lead broadcasting duties on the Grizzlies Media Network as well as being in charge of all team press releases and game-day media materials.

2023 will also be Jason's ninth season in the Frontier League after spending 2014-21 in the same role with the Southern Illinois Miners. Overall, he has broadcasted close to 800 games in the league, including playoffs. During the baseball offseason, he serves as a play-by-play broadcaster for Manhattan College and the New Jersey Institute of Technology, with games being seen on ESPN+ among other platforms.

In addition to broadcasting, Jason works as a public address announcer for Seton Hall University women's basketball as well as Columbia University men's and women's basketball. He also spent nine years working "behind the scenes" as a freelance board operator and highlight editor at Westwood One for their coverage of the NFL, NCAA football, and NCAA basketball.

Jason graduated from Seton Hall in 2012 with B.A. in Communication Studies and a minor in Broadcasting & Visual Media.

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