THUNDER BAY – Spoiler alert!
The Thunder Bay Border Cats may not be playoff bound, but they’re doing their level best to keep the Eau Claire Express out of the postseason too.
The Cats, who spotted the Express a 3-0 lead in the first inning, battled back to hand their opponent an 11-8 loss, a six-run fifth inning proving to be the difference, as Thunder Bay won for a second straight night and kept Eau Claire tied with Duluth for top spot in the Great Plains East – with just two games to go on their second half schedule.
Nathanael Frederking, who was 1-for-3 at the plate, with a pair of walks and two runs scored, said the team wants to finish strong, despite missing out on the playoffs.
“It’s a really long summer, and we’ve got guys coming in and out of here, but we’ve got a really good group right now, a strong group, and we have a chance to make a good push here at the end,” said Frederking, a London, Ont. native and one of the few players on the team who stuck around for the entire season.
Though he didn’t get a lot of opportunities over the first couple months of the season, he’s made the most of his chances over the past week or more, making eight straight starts, going 7-for-28 with four runs and a couple of RBI.
“You’ve just got to wait for your opportunity to come and when it comes you’ve always got to be ready, because you never know when that situation is going to present itself,” Frederking said.
The Express (19-14) jumped on Thunder Bay starter Mason Lemmons in the opening frame, loading the bases with no outs.
Dylan O’Connell grounded into a 6-4-3 double play to plate the first run of the night at Port Arthur Stadium, and Gabe Richardson stepped in and belted a ball off the scoreboard in left, his seventh of the season.
Sam Stem and Garrett Sloan hit back-to-back sacrifice flies to cut the Eau Claire lead to 3-2, and the Express took a 4-2 lead on a Lemons wild pitch in the second.
Once again Thunder Bay had an answer, jumping on Eau Claire starter Daniel Rosado for three more runs and a 5-4 lead. Peter Fusek had an RBI single that scored Tripp Johns, who doubled to lead off the inning. Trey Fikes slammed a line drive off of Rosado that allowed Frederking to race home, the only play a throw to first to retire Fikes. Fusek then stole third and trotted home when Express catcher Evan Gustafson airmailed his throw to the keystone corner.
Lemons settled down from there, retiring the side in order in the third, fourth and fifth innings, long enough for the Border Cats to take control.
Eau Claire manager Dale Varsho brought Ethan Thomas in to pitch the fifth, but after retiring the first batter he faced, things went south.
A walk, a single and an error loaded the bases. Fusek drew a walk, and then, with two outs, Riley Iffrig and Sam Stem had back-to-back two-run singles, extending the Border Cats lead to 11-4.
It turns out they’d need most of the runs.
The Express got to Lemons again in the sixth, scoring four times, the big blow a Gustafson double that brought home a pair of runs. A Thomas Cooper effort at third resulted in two more runs, but Lemons managed to escape without any further damage, giving way to Daelen Johnson.
Johnson allowed just one hit the rest of the way, walking one and striking out two to record the save.
The Cats (17-16) host Waterloo (15-18) on Friday and Saturday to wrap up their 2024 campaign.
