06/15/2007

Grizzlies go long, short to get past the Beach Bums

Gehring goes the distance in loss

FROM STAFF REPORTS

TRAVERSE CITY — When it came down to the long and short of it, the Gateway Grizzlies had both.

Gateway rallied for a 3-2 victory over the Traverse City Beach Bums in a Frontier League game at Wuerfel Park on Thursday.

Gateway scored in the top of the ninth inning to break a 2-2 tie.

Traverse City starter Ryan Gehring — who threw the first complete game for the Beach Bums this season — got the first two outs. Dustin Roberts delivered a double and scored on a soft single to center by Mike Breyman.

Traverse City (9-13) rallied but failed to score in the bottom of the ninth against the West Division-leading Grizzlies (17-5).

Gateway tied the game at 2-2 in the sixth inning when Stephen Holdren followed a single by Jesse Acosta with a home run the opposite way to left field. It was his sixth homer of the season.

"We knew they had some power and we respect their power in the middle of the order,” Bums manager Jon Cahill said. "Ryan just left the ball up in the zone and they took advantage of it.”

Traverse City scored its two runs in the third inning on Zack Kalter's two-run single. Kalter had three hits and Takeshi Yamamoto two.

Gehring (1-3) struck out six for TC. Erik Dessau (3-0) scattered seven hits over eight innings for Gateway while Eric Ridener worked the ninth for this seventh save.