River City hands Gateway Grizzlies a 15-3 loss in Frontier League baseball action

The Gateway Grizzlies fell to the River City Rascals on Thursday night by a 15-3 final at GCS Ballpark.

Gateway starter Vince Molesky (4-8) struggled from the start of the game, walking the bases loaded in the first. Jason Merjano then laced a double into the right field corner to drive two home. A sacrifice fly brought another run in to make it 3-0.

After the Grizzlies (42-45) got one back on an error in the second, but the Rascals struck again in the fourth inning.

Molesky allowed a leadoff single to Jason Merjano in the fourth. Mike Jurgella hit a triple beyond the reach of Sam Fischer in right field to make it 4-1. The Rascals (45-42) added a pair of RBI singles before Josh Ludy smacked a three-run homer off the top of the right wall to cap off the six-run inning.

Chris Rogers came on in relief and allowed a run-scoring single in the sixth. The Rascals added two runs against Kevin Jefferis in the eighth before closing out the scoring in the ninth with a trio of runs against Chris Scarlett in the ninth.

The Grizzlies got their only other offense of the night in the fifth inning, when Zach Lavy launched his fifth home run of the season over the scoreboard in right field. Sam Fischer came home on a wild pitch to score a run in the seventh.

River City received another good night on the mound, with three relievers combining for the final four innings of relief. RHP Dylan Brammer (2-0) allowed only two runs in his five innings of work.

The Grizzlies hit the road on Friday for the start of a three-game set on Friday night against the Florence Freedom. First pitch is at 6:05 p.m.

The game can be heard on the Grizzlies Radio Network, which airs Friday on www.GatewayGrizzlies.com/Radio. Sam Levitt has the play-by-play call.

This story was originally published August 25, 2016 at 11:21 PM with the headline "River City hands Gateway Grizzlies a 15-3 loss in Frontier League baseball action."