(6/18/06) Tim Smith’s father flew across the Great Lakes from one end of his native Ontario to the other to see his son play the Thunder Bay Border Cats on Sunday night, and his son made the journey worthwhile.

Smith collected five singles and the game-tying sacrifice fly as the Mankato MoonDogs rallied past the Border Cats 10-7 in 11 innings.

Smith, who hails from Toronto, played a key role in several Mankato rallies. He gave the MoonDogs the lead in the top of the first with a two-out single to score Ryan Addison, a lead that would be short-lived as Thunder Bay rallied for two runs in the bottom of the inning on a Marcus Jones home run.

The Border Cats’ lead grew to 5-1 in the third when Jones and Ben Petsch singled and Joey Lieberman homered against MoonDogs starter Pat Cassa, who was making his season debut. Cassa finished by going five innings, allowing 10 hits and seven runs while striking out five and walking one.

Mankato drew a run closer in each of the next two innings on a Nate Hanson RBI single and a Chris Brown sacrifice fly to score Smith, but Thunder Bay regained a four-run advantage when Petsch and Lieberman again combined to drive in a pair of runs on a double and single, respectively.

The MoonDogs rallied with two outs in the sixth when Adam Kampsen and Sean Halton walked around a Smith single, and Brown and Ben Geelan each drove in a run to cut the lead to 7-6. Smith’s sacrifice fly an inning later tied the score.

The game remained deadlocked into extra innings, familiar territory for the MoonDogs, who were playing their game this season that extended beyond regulation. Matt Mossey had much to do with extending the game, as he pitched six shutout innings while allowing just four hits.

Hanson broke the tie in the 11th with a single to score Chris Rodriguez and Kampsen and Halton added two insurance runs. With Tom Porter warming up in the bullpen, Mossey reassured head coach Jason Nell he was able to throw another inning, and Mossey retired the side in order to earn his first win.