The Thunder Bay Border Cats have added to their 2015 Northwoods League roster with the signings of five additional players. The Cats have inked middle infielder Matthew Batten, outfielder Mike Palladino, catcher/outfielder Alan Baldwin, infielder Mikael-Ali Mogues, and Canadian first baseman/pitcher Mitch Bigras.
Batten and Palladino are teammates at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, CT. Batten is a 5’11”, 170 pound sophomore middle infielder from Shelton, CT. He appeared in 49 games during the 2014 season, during which he batted .260 with 52 hits, 19 RBIs, nine doubles, and 10 stolen bases. Palladino is a 5’9″, 175 pound junior outfielder from Rockville Centre, NY. He played in 45 games during the 2014 season and hit .238 with 38 hits, 11 doubles, and 13 runs batted in.
Baldwin is a 6’1″, 190 pound junior catcher/outfielder from Kailua, Hawaii and attends the University of Hawaii. He has played in fifteen games this year and is hitting .279 with 12 hits and eight runs batted in.
Mogues is a 6’3″, 260 pound infielder from New York, NY., and plays his collegiate baseball at New Jersey’s Seton Hall University. The sophomore appeared in 22 games last season and hit .310 with 13 hits and seven runs batted in.
Bigras is a 6’5″, 195 pound first baseman from Sarnia, ON., and is in his freshman season at Boston College. The left-hander was named to the Canadian National Junior team in 2013, and made three appearances for Team Ontario on the mound at the 2013 Canada Summer Games, winning one game, saving one, and recording nine strikeouts.
The Border Cats open the 2015 Northwoods League season on Tuesday, May 26th, versus the Eau Claire Express at 7:05pm at Tbaytel Park. Season tickets and flex-packs are now on sale by calling (807) 766-CATS.
The Border Cats are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. Playing its 22nd season of summer collegiate baseball in 2015, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 18 teams, drawing significantly more fans, in a friendly ballpark experience, than any league of its kind. A valuable training ground for coaches, umpires and front office staff, more than 120 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (CWS), Jordan Zimmermann (WAS), Curtis Granderson (NYM), Allen Craig (BOS) and Ben Zobrist (OAK). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League Website. For more information, visit www.bordercatsbaseball.com
