Little Falls, NJ -- The gates swung open and fans filed into Yogi Berra Stadium for Jackals baseball for the first time in 2022 tonight. Unfortunately, they were witness to stifling heat and equally suffocating pitching from the visiting Gateway Grizzlies, who won the contest 13-8.

It began before most of the crowd had time to find their seats, much less inspect their magnet schedule giveaways. Isaac Benard singled in Gateway leadoff man Andrew Penner to give the Grizzlies a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning. Falling behind early has been a common occurrence for the Jackals this season, but the visitors were determined to ensure their habit for coming back in games wouldn't be fulfilled this night. Jay Prather lifted a three run homer in the top of the first to give the Grizzlies a 4-0 lead. It was his first homer on the year and runs batted in numbers eight, nine and ten on the nascent campaign.

The barrage of Gateway scoring continued in the second inning, added three more- Pete Zimmermann worked a bases loaded walk and then Prather followed by barreling a double into the left-center field gap to score two. The Grizzlies led 6-0 after two.

It was 10-0 in the bottom of the fifth before the Jackals offense came back to life. Trevor Abrams and Dalton Combs combined to wake the crowd from its slumber, utilizing their lumber. Abrams began the scoring with a two run homer to score himself and Jason Agresti. Combs one-upped him later in the inning by blasting a three run shot to right field, scoring Santiago Chirino, Todd Isaacs and himself, but that was the closest the team would draw.

A Jose Rosario RBI ground out to second, an Abdiel Diaz RBI single and a Pete Zimmermann homer rounded out the scoring for Gateway, who led 13-5 in the bottom of the ninth. Alfredo Marte spoke last for the Jackals in the bottom of the ninth, clubbing a three run shot down the third base line to make it 13-8, which was the final score by which the Jackals lost.

New Jersey is now 4-2, as Hayden Shenefield falls to 0-2. Gateway improves to 6-1, with Taylor Sugg notching his first victory of 2022. The series continues tomorrow at 12:05 in the first game of a double header. Both games will be seven innings in length and will be single admission. If you can't make the game, you can hear it on MixLR and watch it on Flo Sports!

PHOTO CREDIT: Phil Hoops, Jackals Team Photographer

REPORTING BY: Reed Keller, Director of Sales and Media Relations