DULUTH, Minn. – The Thunder Bay Border Cats just keep finding ways to win.
Ty Brooks triple in the ninth inning on Saturday night, delivering the winning run in Thunder Bay’s come-from-behind 7-6 road win over the Duluth Huskies.
It was Thunder Bay’s 10th win in 12 games this season and helped the Northwoods League team maintain a 7-6
Closer Sean Heppner came on and pitched his way out of a ninth-inning jam, after allowing a one-out walk to Huskies leadoff hitter Cardell Thibodeaux, followed by a two-out error with M.J. Sweeney at the plate that put the tying run on second and the winning run on firrt.
Heppner then got Cater Kalin to go down swinging to preserve the one-run victory and a two-game sweep of their set in Duluth, who will be back in Thunder Bay on Sunday to start a two-game series at Port Arthur Stadium.
The Cats jumped all over Duluth starter Brayden Curtis in the first, scoring three times and chasing him after just 36 pitches.
Leadoff hitter Lucas Terilli and Zane Skasi walked to start the first and third-baseman Kyle Morrison singled to load the bases.
Terilli was thrown out at the plate on a Cole Ketzner comebacker to the mound, but Curtis’ luck ran out.
Jacob Miller was hit by a pitch, scoring Skansi, and with two outs, Brooks drew a bases loaded walk. An error by aptly named Duluth third baseman Boots Landry produced a third run and the Border Cats jumped out to a 3-0 lead.
It didn’t last long.
The Huskies jumped all over Thunder Bay starter Caleb Bunch in the bottom of the first, blitzing him for four runs. Four batters in the bases were loaded and, after an error score Ethan Cole from third, No. 6 hitter Charlie Sutherland, who homered earlier in the week in Thunder Bay, singled home a pair, Sweeney and Landry coming home to cut the Cats lead to 3-2.
Cole scored on another wild pitch and the Huskies took a 4-3 lead after one.
The Border Cats took the lead back in the second, Matt Juza on the mound for Duluth.
Morrison tripled to plate Terilli and scored on a Ketzner ground-out.
The lead held until the fourth, Joe Vos grounding to short to score Corbin Grantham and Sweeney singling to right, allowing Dick to score from third to give the Huskies a 6-5 edge.
Skansi’s one-out, RBI double off Juza in the top of the sixth evened the score.
Though it wasn’t Bunch’s best outing, the Border Cats bullpen came through in the crunch to keep the team in the contest, played in front of 623 at Duluth’s Wade Stadium.
Garfield Johns, Griffin Cato (W, 3-0), and Heppner held the Huskies to a single hit, walking three, over the final five innings of the game, locking down the Duluth hitters the rest of the way.
Cat tracks: PWHL champion Michela Cava is expected to throw out the first pitch on Sunday, about 20 minutes before the scheduled 5:05 p.m. opening pitch.
