Baseball Recap: Thornton Takes a Loss

Thornton extended their losing streak (dating back to last season) to 24 on Thursday, dropping their season record down to 0-20 in the process. They were two runs away from ending the streak, but they lost a 6-4 heartbreaker at the hands of the Gateway Olympians. Unfortunately, that's the second time they've come up short against the Olympians this season, as they also lost their prior matchup 17-3 back in April.

Thornton saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Ethan Stehle, who went 1-for-2 with two runs and one stolen base. Miguel Gitierrez also deserves some recognition as he hit his first double of the season.

As for Gateway, they pushed their record up to 10-7 with the victory, which was their fourth straight at home. Those home wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 13.3 runs over those games.

On Gateway's side, Maikol Ochoa made a big impact while hitting and pitching. He struck out eight batters over five innings while giving up three earned (and one unearned) runs off five hits. Ochoa was also stellar in the batter's box, going 2-for-3 with one home run and three RBI. That's the most RBI he has posted since back in March.

In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Heber Almeida, who went 1-for-2 with two runs, one stolen base, and one RBI. He has become a key player for Gateway: the team is 7-1 when he posts at least two runs, but 3-6 otherwise. Roberto Rosario was another key player, going 2-for-3 with one double and one RBI.

Coming up, Thornton will face off against Adams City at 4:00 p.m. on Monday. The Trojans' pitchers better be ready for this one: the Eagles have averaged an impressive 8.6 runs per game this season. As for Gateway, they wasted no time getting back out on the field and have already played their next matchup, a 20-1 defeat against Northfield on the 2nd.