THUNDER BAY – Ryan Windham knows how to make an exit.
Pitching in his final game this season for the Thunder Bay Border Cats, the Castle Rock, Col. native was a dominating force on the mound on Thursday night, tossing seven innings of six-hit, shutout ball to lead his team to a 4-1 win over the visiting Waterloo Bucks in front of 849 fans at Port Arthur Stadium.
He got all the offensive help he needed from Canadian Jakob Newton, who hit a two-run home run in the first inning, hit into a run-scoring double play in the fourth with the bases loaded and stole a pair of bases and scored on Jake Larson’s double down the right-field line in the eighth.
In the process Windham lowered his team-leading ERA to a spectacular 1.46, having allowed just six earned runs over 37 innings during the 2019 Northwoods League season.
“I just kind of pounded the zone and figured out the whole season,” said Windham, who finished with a 3-2 record.
“I just kind of found myself out as a pitcher. Tonight capped off the season for me … but it was a great season. I’m glad to be up here.”
It’s a great way to go out, with the college baseball season just around the corner.
“Bringing that into the fall is huge,” he said. “It’s just great to find myself as a pitcher, honestly. I found my fastball, my slider, so that’s perfect going into the fall and hopefully the spring as a starter.”
It was an incredible pitching performance, Newton said.
“It’s great playing behind him. He’s just an awesome, competitive pitcher with a lot of energy on the mound. He works fast and we can really stay behind him,” said the Cats left-fielder, who leads the team with a .290 batting average.”
The home run was his first of the summer.
“We’ve been struggling a little bit in the first inning offensively, and it was great to help the guys out. With two strikes on me I was just in battle mode and he threw me a curve ball and I got some good barrel on it,” Newton said.
It could have been much worse for the Bucks pitching staff.
Twice the Cats (7-19) loaded the bases with no outs, but they only managed a single run, Joe Jimenez scoring in the third on Newton’s 6-3 double play up the middle.
Waterloo starter Peyton Fuller induced Newton to hit into an inning-ending double play with the bases full in the fifth.
Fuller lasted one more inning leaving after six, having given up three runs on six hits and a pair of walks.
Sidearm specialist Austin Eggleston took over for Windham to start the eighth and it was his pick-off move, not necessarily his pitching, that saved the day.
Bennett Hostetler tripled to open the eighth and scored on a Dylan Phillips single. Phillips took second on a Blake Wagenseller walk, but was caught leaning toward third as Eggleston spun and fired a strike to erase the lead runner.
Wagenseller suffered the same fate with Alonso Rubalcaba at the plate and runners on first and second.
“That’s awesome, the nastiest thing I’ve ever seen,” Windham said.
After Kevin Blum reached on a Karsten Vasquez error to open the ninth, Eggleston retired the side in order to preserve the win and pick up his first save of the season.
The Cats and Bucks (10-17) tangle again on Friday night, a 7:35 p.m. start to accommodate post-game fireworks.
