Home Baseball Grizzlies’ Bats Come Alive In Win Over Freedom

Grizzlies’ Bats Come Alive In Win Over Freedom

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FLORENCE, Ky. – The Gateway Grizzlies used a five-run fourth inning to pull ahead of the Florence Freedom on Saturday night at UC Health Stadium, cruising to a 7-2 victory.

The Grizzlies (29-47) trailed 1-0 in the top of the fourth inning before mounting a big rally against Freedom starter Cody Gray (3-2). Seth Heck walked to start the frame, which was followed by a pair of base hits from Craig Massoni and Ben Waldrip. With the bases loaded and nobody out, Blake Brown stepped to the dish and popped a grand slam to center field. Brown’s 18th blast of the season gave the Grizzlies a 4-1 advantage.

Just two batters later, Richard Seigel provided a highlight of his own when he laced a deep fly ball to left-center field. Florence outfielder Zac Mitchell came up empty with a diving attempt, which allowed the ball to trickle away on the warning track. Seigel raced all the way around the bases for an inside-the-park solo homer.

RHP Dakota Smith (1-2) was solid through six innings on the mound for Gateway. The Kansas native allowed just one run in six innings before handing things over to RHP JaVaun West, who pitched a scoreless seventh.

Grizzlies’ rookie Ryan Johns, who grew up in nearby Cincinnati, collected an RBI single to give Gateway a 6-1 edge. They tacked on one more to make it 7-1.

The Freedom (35-42) got one run off RHP Tyler Thompson in the eighth inning, but Thompson dealt a scoreless ninth to end the game.

Massoni paced the Grizzlies’ offense with three hits while Cody Livesay picked up a pair.

The Grizzlies and Freedom play the rubber game of their three-game set at 5:05 p.m. CT on Sunday. Gateway sends RHP Vince Molesky (3-5, 5.91 ERA) to the hill against Florence RHP Chuck Weaver (5-4, 3.35 ERA). The game can be heard on the Grizzlies Radio Network, which airs on 101 ESPN’s digital platforms and 1400 AM KJFF. Sam Levitt will call the action.

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