FOR RELEASE: JULY 3, 2009

SCAPEROTTA DRIVE IN SIX IN GRIZZLIES WIN

Joseph Scaperotta hit a pair of home runs Friday night, including his first career grand slam and drove in six runs as the Gateway Grizzlies out-slugged the Windy City ThunderBolts 12-10 in front of 3,407 at GCS Ballpark.

Windy City (22-18) opened the scoring twice in the first inning on three hits off Grizzlies starter Adam Bowling. The Grizzlies (14-25) took the lead for good in the bottom of the inning. Brandon Peters, Stephen Holdren and Charlie Lisk all singled ahead of Scaperotta who hammered a 3-2 pitch over the lawn in right field. The home run extended Scaperotta’s franchise-record hitting streak to 22.

Bowling earned the win, going 5.1 innings, but allowed seven runs.

Scaperotta added a two-run home run in the fifth as par of a five-run inning for the Grizzlies. Holdren, Lisk and Brad Thoma all had RBIs in the inning that put the Grizzlies on top 9-2.

Windy City answered with a five-run frame of their own in the sixth to make it 9-7. Gilberto Mejia capped the inning with a grand slam for the ‘Bolts.

Holdren and Brandon Peters each had RBI doubles in the sixth inning to push the Grizzlies lead to 11-7. Windy City got a single run in the seventh and two in the eighth to cut the lead to 11-10.

Lisk hit a two-out solo home run in the bottom of the inning for the final margin. Lisk finished 3-4 with the homer and two RBIs. He now leads the team with 13 home runs. He leads the league with 42 RBIs.

Holdren and Peters each had three hits in the win. Holdren drove in two, while Peters added an RBI.

Joel Boeschen earned his first save of the year with a scoreless ninth. He struck out one.

The Grizzlies and ThunderBolts continue the series with a July 4^th match-up. Special game time is 6:05 pm at GCS Ballpark.

Joe Pott

Broadcaster

Gateway Grizzlies Frontier League Baseball