SAUGET, ILL. –The Gateway Grizzlies rallied back from a 5-0 deficit at the seventh-inning stretch, scoring three runs in the seventh and three more in the ninth on back-to-back home runs by Abdiel Diaz and Dale Thomas, with the latter’s walk-off shot securing a dramatic, 6-5 win on Tuesday at Arsenal BG Ballpark.

The game began as a pitching duel between Blake Peyton and Schaumburg’s Cole Zaffiro. Peyton held the Boomers without a hit until the fifth inning, when Christian Fedko’s two-out, two-run double broke the ice and made it 2-0.

The two-out struggles continued in the next two innings, as Schaumburg plated three more runs off Andrew Ronne and Alec Sparks to take a 5-0 lead at the seventh inning stretch, all on base hits with two outs in the respective inning. But after six shutout frames by Zaffiro with seven strikeouts, the Grizzlies were able to crack the code against the Schaumburg bullpen.

Jose Cordoba began the comeback with a nine-pitch at-bat against Aaron Glickstein resulting in a solo home run to left field that made it 5-1. Later in the inning, Diaz, who returned to the club to make his season debut, worked a two-out walk that kept the inning alive for Thomas and Bryson Horne, who came through with back-to-back RBI singles to make it 5-3.

The Grizzlies were retired in order in the eighth, and Matt Hickey and Julio Ortiz (2-1) combined to hold the Boomers off the board in their last two turns at bat, setting up the dramatics in the bottom of the ninth against all-star closer Caleb Riedel (1-4).

The southpaw began the inning with a strikeout, but Darryl Lee got on base with a solid single to center field, bringing the tying run to the plate in the form of Diaz, who launched the first pitch he saw for a game-tying home run over the left field fence, knotting the score at 5-5. Thomas then worked an eight-pitch at-bat before he, too, crushed a home run to left field, giving the Grizzlies the huge victory to break their four-game losing streak with their first walk-off home run since August 30, 2023.

Gateway will now seek back-to-back wins over the Boomers in the crucial head-to-head series in the middle game on Wednesday, August 5. Ben Harris will pitch for the Grizzlies against Schaumburg all-star Buddie Pindel, with first pitch at Arsenal BG Ballpark scheduled for 6:30 p.m. CT.