THUNDER BAY – If the Border Cats are going to make a second-half push, they’ve got to start somewhere.
Maybe Sunday’s game, delayed by rain for nearly four hours, will spark that new beginning.
Mired in a seven-game losing streak, the 3-11 Cats bats came alive, their pitching was vastly improved and they showed they can make baseball’s fundamentals work just fine.
Thunder Bay scratched out a pair of runs in the second, added runs in the fifth and sixth, and broke their game against the visiting Mankato MoonDogs open in the seventh with a four-run outburst, going on to snap their losing streak with an 8-1 in front of 614 dedicated fans at Port Arthur Stadium.
“We’ve been playing hard and it just hasn’t gone our way,” said Cats catcher Cole Ketzner, who went 2-for-4 on the night, driving in a pair with a seventh-inning double to up his RBI total to 35, second on the team to the injured Tyler Kehoe.
“We finally got something going our way and it feels great to get the W.”
Acting manager Nolan Atkins, filling in for usual skipper J.M. Kelly for a couple of days while Kelly is away from the team, said it was great to finally find the win column again.
“We’ve been playing great the last couple of games, that have come down to one pitch or one at bat. Unfortunately, they hadn’t gone our way, but the guys keep batting, getting good Abs. We got great pitching today, which is nice,” Atkins said. “A lot of the young guys are starting to figure it out.”
Karson Shepherd got the start for the Border Cats and pitched well over four innings, not allowing a run and giving up just four hits and a pair of walks, giving his hitters a chance to get their engines revved up after spending the rain delay playing Mafia.
The Cats first two runs came on some station-to-station ball.
Brayden Kuriger and Travis Chestnut drew back-to-back-walks to open the third, then advanced 90 feet each on a Patrick Engskov sacrifice bunt.
With two outs, Kuriger scored on a wild pitch and Chestnut followed him home on Daylan Pena’s single, the Cats 1B thrown out trying to stretch his run-scoring hit off Mankato ace Caleb Strack into a double.
Peter Fusek scored on an Engskov sacrifice fly in the fifth and Thunder Bay upped its lead to 4-0 in the sixth, with Tanner Shumski on the bump for the MoonDogs, Zane Skansi coming home on Karson Krowka sacrifice fly.
Cole Poirrier (W, 1-1), took over in the fifth for the home side and went three strong, allowing a single run on two hits and a walk, before giving way to Sawyer Barron.
The Cats put it away in the seventh. Chestnut drew a one-out walk and stole his league-leading 31st base of the season – in just his 28th Northwoods League game – and he and Patrick Engskov rounded the bases on Ketzner’s double to centre.
Pena singled to put runners on the corner and Zane Skansi doubled to left to add two more to the Thunder Bay total.
Barron shut down the MoonDogs bats from there and the losing streak was over.
Thunder Bay has Monday off and will host the Minnesota Mud Puppies, the league’s travelling team, on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Claw marks: Speedy outfielder Logan Johnstone has left the team to return to school. He batted .296 with one home run, nine doubles and 25 RBI … Chestnut’s step-uncle is New York Yankees catcher Jose Trevino.
