THUNDER BAY — One comeback a game apparently isn’t enough for the Thunder Bay Border Cats.
Playing in front of the largest regular-season crowd in franchise history, the 2,856 on hand at Port Arthur Stadium made up largely of local elementary school students, the Border Cats first battled back from a 4-0 deficit early in the contest to take a 6-4 lead, then after giving up three in the eighth, won it 9-8 an inning later on a pair of bases loaded hit-by-pitches.
It was the fourth straight win for the streaking Border Cats (10-8), their sixth in their last eight outings.
Logan Johnstone, who merely winced when Will Cassel’s high hard one bounced off his shoulder to score Trey Lewis from third with the game-winning run, said all that matters is the team walked away with the W in the first of two games the Cats and Waterloo Bucks will play on Tuesday.
“That was the best hit-by-pitch of my career,” said Johnstone, who reached base in four of six plate appearances, driving in a pair.
“It was definitely worth it, especially in this doubleheader.”
It capped a crazy finish that included an batter’s interference call that wiped out a run on an errant throw to third by Waterloo catcher Cortlan Castle, and a bizarre seventh-inning double play that saw Bucks centerfielder trap a low liner with the bases loaded, then complete a rare 8-6-5-4 double play, the Border Cats runners unaware the ball hadn’t been caught.
The only saving grace on the play was that Brayden Kuriger had plenty of time to tag up on the play, scoring Thunder Bay’s seventh run of the game, on the ball hit by catcher Easton Culp.
“As long as we’re battling back and staying in the ballgame, and we’re not making as many errors anymore, and just winning games, we’ll take whatever we can get here,” Johnstone said. “Hopefully we get a few more put-away games, where we just flat out beat them, but these games are fun to win as well.”
Evan Hendricks started the game for Thunder Bay, lasting two-and-a-third innings, tagged for the first four runs of the morning, including a solo shot by Waterloo’s Michael Lippe on the eighth pitch he threw. Brandon Fish cleared the based with a double to centre to score three more in the second and Kyle Gearding took over, going 3.2 shutout innings, giving the Thunder Bay hitters a chance to unleash on Bucks starter Patrick Mastrian.
They got to him in the third.
Cole Ketzner doubled to centre to score Travis Chestnut, Johnstone came home on a Tyler Kehoe sacrifice fly and Ketzner crossed the plate on a Kuriger double to right. Kehoe, tied for sixth in the Northwoods League with 17 RBI, drove in two more in a three-run fourth, the Border Cats taking a 6-4 lead.
However, they ran into pitching issues in the eighth.
Barron Sawyer hit two batters and gave up two singles in his second inning of work, leading to four runs, including a bases loaded HBP with Sam Skarich at the plate, foreshadowing what was to come in the ninth.
Caleb Bunch (W, 2-0) took over and walked another batter in and gave up a two-run double to Drake Westcott that put the Bucks up 8-7.
There was no quit in the Cats, however, and with the bases loaded and one out in the ninth, Patrick Engskov scampered home with the equalizer on a Casel wild pitch.
“I think the strategy was just to score two runs,” said Thunder Bay manager J.M. Kelly, asked what his gameplan was when the ninth rolled around, his team now down a run.
“I didn’t really care how we did it.”
Cat tracks: Tyler Griggs, who was hit by a pitch in the left foot, left the game for a pinch runner as a result of the play.
