THUNDER BAY – For the first four innings, the Thunder Bay Border Cats didn’t manage to hit the ball out of the infield.
Ryan Gold, the crafty Waterloo Bucks southpaw, took a no-hitter into the fifth and faced one over the minimum through six innings.
By the time the Border Cats bats awoke in the seventh, it was too little, too late.
Birthday boy Kyle Morrison finally got to Gold, powering the ball over the wall in left-centre at Port Arthur Stadium, with Cole Ketzner on board.
Unfortunately for Thunder Bay, things didn’t get much better when the Buck turned to the bullpen, Gold leaving with one out in the seventh.
Jack Scrofano, Wyatt Land and Sam Skarich, making his second appearance of the day, held the Border Cazts to a single base-runner the rest of the way, earning the Bucks a 4-2 win, their second in three outings on Wednesday, the two teams completing a rare triple-header thanks to Tuesday night’s rainout.
With the win, the Bucks jumped into a three-way tie with Thunder Bay and Duluth, improving to 12-9 on the season, the same record as the Cats, who started 2024 on a 10-2 tear, only to lose seven of nine.
It’s not time to panic, said Morrison, his first homerun coming on his 20th birthday.
“You’ve just got to keep playing baseball. All teams go through this at some point in the year, so you’ve just got to keep battling and keep grinding it out. Eventually it’ll turn it around,” said Morrison, who hails from Wetumka, Ala and is a sophomore at Shelton State Community College.
Gold, who allowed just five baserunners and struck out nine before departing, was a tough pitcher to face, he said.
“He was just kind of a crafty lefty. He changed speeds a lot. You just had to go up there and see how he was pitching to you and adjust to that,” Morrison said.
Kansai Sugimoto got the start for Thunder Bay, and didn’t get the help he needed behind him.
Lucas Moore singled to start the opening inning off, then came round to score when Ty Brooks misplayed a routine – though hard hit – grounder.
Brennan Hudson followed with a walk and a double steal left runners on the corner for Evan Morrison, who promptly singled to left to score both runners, as the Bucks jumped in front 3-0 in the first.
Sugimoto was pulled with two outs in the sixth, having given up four runs – just one of them earned – on six hits and three walks. He struck out five.
Peter Fusek and Tyrus Ruley allowed just one hit and no runs the rest of the way for Thunder Bay.
They’d add another in the second, a lead that held until the seventh, when Morrison went to work.
“It felt really good. I knew I put a good swing on it, I’m just glad it carried on out of here, said Morrison, who has 16 hits in 48 at bats this season, including a ninth-inning double that brought the potential tying run to the plate with two outs.
Skarich had other ideas.
The Davenport, Iowa righty struck Trey Fikes on four pitches to end the game, giving the Bucks two wins in three outings on the day.
The Border Cats and Bucks will wrap up their four-game set on Thursday at 6:35 p.m. Caleb Bunch is scheduled to take the mound for Thunder Bay.
