THUNDER BAY – You never get a second chance to make a first impression.
After Monday night, Mike Long’s OK with that.
The St. Louis native, playing his first game with the Thunder Bay Border Cats, drilled the sixth pitch he saw as a Northwoods League hitter over fence in left-centrefield, the 989 in the stands at Port Arthur Stadium rising to their feet to cheer and salute the latest newcomer to join the team.
Long would finish the night with a 2-for-4 performance, scoring both Thunder Bay runs in a 12-2 defeat at the hands of the first-place La Crosse Loggers, a team looking to secure the second-half top spot in the Great Plains East Division.
A sophomore at Missouri’s Maryville University, Long said he drew plenty of inspiration as he rolled into Thunder Bay, seeing Lake Superior and the beauty of Northwestern Ontario as he crossed the border into Canada.
Or maybe he just found a pitch he really liked.
The reaction is something he’ll remember for the rest of his life.
“The fans just went nuts. That’s what makes it so great. When you hit a home run and there’s no one there, it’s still great, but when you make the fans day, that’s what makes you feel good,” Long said.
Manager J.M. Kelly said it made his night.
“For that guy to come in here and get an opportunity and to seize the moment and take advantage of that opportunity he got, that’s awesome. For him to be able to do it and the fans to erupt like that, it’s really awesome to see and that was the highlight of the game, in my opinion,” Kelly said.
Not much else went right for Thunder Bay in this one.
Local southpaw Will Droll (L, 0-3) took the mound, the all-star looking to make one final impression in front of the home crowd, the 10-21 Border Cats scheduled to wrap up the home portion of their schedule on Tuesday night against these same Loggers.
The Loggers loaded the bases on him in the second, the first run coming home when a rare balk call was called on Droll, bringing home Danny Neri. A Rocco Caballero sacrifice fly produced the second La Crosse run of the night.
Up 2-1, they’d add three more in the third on Droll, Dan Merkel plating two with a bases loaded single and the rout was on.
Droll lasted six innings, giving up six runs on nine hits while striking out six and walking just one.
Nate Melnikoff took over and was roughed up recording four outs, tagged for four runs, giving up three hits and three walks.
The Loggers added two more against Cale Beckman in the ninth, combining for 14 hits against four Thunder Bay pitchers.
Long, who will stick with the team through the weekend and the end of the regular season, says the final result doesn’t really matter at this point.
“I just want to play a few more days before I head back to school,” he said.
Claw marks: The game was delayed 17 minutes while the umpires ruled whether or not La Crosse’s Brandon Fields had used an illegal bat. He was ultimately called out because of it and the bat was removed from the game … Thunder Bay outfielder Ben Keske was sent to hospital with a possible broken nose after losing a ball in the sun.
