The Southern Illinois Miners led from the outset on Sunday at Silver Cross Field, and blew the game open with a seven-run fifth inning to wallop the Joliet Slammers in the series finale 15-4, winning the set two games to one for their franchise-record tenth straight road series win dating back to last year, and their 15th out of their last 16 since the 2014 all-star break.
The Miners got to former Miner Michael Carden (2-2) immediately, as the first four batters of the game reached base. A bases-loaded walk by Frank Martinez and a sacrifice fly by Joe Rapp made it 2-0. After starter Jarett Miller was taken out of the game after taking a comebacker off of his non-throwing arm in the first, the Slammers were able to scratch across an unearned run off of Brandon Cowan (1-1) to make it 2-1 in the second inning.
The score remained 2-1 until the fifth inning, when Southern Illinois would put the game away. Michael Earley led off with his second double of the contest for his 500th professional hit, kicking off a rally that would plate seven runs on seven hits and knock Carden out of the game. Niko Vasquez followed Earley’s double with a double of his own, and after RBI singles by Martinez and Rapp, Toby DeMello joined the action with a two-run double. Aaron Gates and Earley would add additional RBIs in the inning as the Miners sent 11 men to the plate in their most-productive inning of the season.
Southern Illinois was not done there. After another double by DeMello to lead off the seventh, Earley homered three batters later, his sixth of the season, and Vasquez followed with a solo shot for his team-leading tenth home run of the season. The Miners also plated three more runs in the eighth, two on a double by Gates, to complete their scoring.
The Miners pounded out their 15 runs on a season-best 18 hits in the blowout win, with Gates getting four hits in the contest and Earley, Marino and DeMello each with three. Earley and DeMello also scored three runs, with every player in the starting lineup except one scoring at least once, while five different Miners drove in multiple runs. Cowan pitched four innings and allowed only one unearned run for his first win of the season.
The Miners now enter the all-star break at 32-19, one game back of first place in the East Division, and will return home after the break on Friday, July 17th at 7:05 p.m., resuming play against the Windy City ThunderBolts.
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.
