THUNDER BAY – With Trey Lewis at the dish, the Border Cats can’t lose.
Called on to pinch hit for Brayden Kuriger in the 10th inning and runners on first and second, Lewis came through in the clutch, driving a 1-2 Jonathan Largaespada offering down the line in left to score Tyler Kehoe with the game-winning run, ending Thunder Bay’s season-long six-game losing streak with a 7-6 triumph over the visiting Rochester Honkers.
Lewis was mobbed by his teammates, thrilled to pick up their first second-half win in five attempts and put an end to the slump.
“It felt great,” said Lewis, who had gone one for his previous 20 before getting the tap from manager J.M. Kelly with two outs in the 10th.
“We came out and felt like things weren’t going our way for the past six games, but we just kept coming and it feels good, especially here at home.”
Coming off the bench is never easy, but Lewis said he’s ready to do whatever it takes to help the Border Cats turn things around.
“I was just trying to get my best swing on the ball, especially after he got me 0-2. I said let’s just not miss the fastball and it worked out, he threw me one.”
The Cats, who trailed 6-5 after Rochester’s Kimo Fukofuka doubled to left to score Ben North with the go-ahead run in the top of the 10th, tied the game on a Tyler Kehoe singled that plated Zane Skansi, who started the inning on second and moved to third on a Largaespada wild pitch.
Kelly said the team may have lost six in a row, but they’ve been in just about every contest.
“They’ve all been really competitive games, we just haven’t found a way to break through,” Kelly said, admitting he’s still figuring out what the new pitchers he’s brought on board for the second half have to offer.
“I think it was a really good job by these guys to compete. It’s easy when you go on a losing streak like that to just forget how to win. You lose the gene, like Trey just had, the clutch gene. It’s really good for these guys to get the win tonight and to be able to bounce back tomorrow with Jack (Pineau) on the mound, so you know you’re in a good spot.”
Thunder Bay found themselves in an early 3-0 hole, starter Evans Hendricks not helped by a throwing error in the second that allowed the second of two runs to cross the plate in the frame, catcher Andrew Guidara bouncing a tough ball to 2B Travis Chestnut that scored Fukofuka from third and allowed Brendan O’Sullivan to scamper home.
Hendricks allowed another run in the third, and left after five, giving up three runs on three hits and three walks.
Honkers starter Will Lavin no-hit the Cats through four innings, but the bats finally came alive in the fifth, Logan Johnstone clearing the bases with a triple to left that Rochester’s Paul Schoenfeld lost in the sinking sun.
“I think it was only a matter of time against that guy,” Johnstone said. “He had good stuff, but by time the fifth inning rolled around, we saw him for plenty of innings, plenty of pitches … Once we got those runs in the fifth it was a huge confidence boost.”
Kyle Fossum gave the Honkers a 4-3 lead in the sixth with an RBI double, but Kehoe sent a chopper over Fukofuka’s head at first in the bottom of the inning to even the game 4-4. Johnstone gave the Border Cats a 5-4 advantage on a sacrifice fly in the seventh, but the Honkers tied it up in the eighth, Fossum singling off reliever Jacob Gajic to score Fukofuka from second.
The Cats (1-4) and Honkers (2-3) wrap up their four-game set on Sunday at 1:35 p.m. at Port Arthur Stadium.
