THUNDER BAY – Max Ramirez IV was just what the Border Cats needed.
The righthander allowed one run on five hits over five-and-a-third innings on Monday night, leading the Northwoods League team to an 8-3 win over the La Crosse Loggers to keep them within a game of top spot in the Great Plains East Division.
Ramirez improved to 6-0 on the season and somehow managed to increase his miniscule ERA to 0.38.
The Niagara University product got plenty of help from his offence. The Cats scored twice in the second, twice in the third and jumped out to a 7-1 lead with three in the fifth.
After Ty Hamilton scored on an Ozzie Martinez wild pitch in the first, Thomas Cooper stepped up and sent a ball to right that scored Riley Iffrig from third.
Cooper doubled home another pair of runs in the third.
Meanwhile, Martinez didn’t allow a hit or a walk until the fourth inning.
La Crosse finally broke through in the fifth, and to no surprise, it was Border Cats nemesis Luke Davis who came through in the clutch, singling with two outs to plate Matthew Miura. Davis finished the series with five hits in 10 at bats, driving in seven runs.
Up 4-1, Cooper singled and scored two more runs in the fifth and later crossed the plate on a Brayden Kuriger groundout.
La Crossed added a run in the seventh off of Border Cats reliever Peter Fusek, and another in the eighth with Kobe Allen on the hill.
The win improved Thunder Bay’s record to 9-5 in the second half (27-21 overall) and sets up a first-place battle on Tuesday night against the visiting Rochester Honkers (9-3). The Cats are a game behind the Honkers, who crushed Duluth 11-1 on Monday night.
Trent Jordan is expected to get the start for Thunder Bay, with Gauge Lockhart going for the Honkers. Game time is 6:35 p.m.
