ROCHESTER, Minn. — Thunder Bay had been undefeated against Rochester this season, but the Honkers finally broke through Saturday night, defeating the Border Cats 3-2 to split the two-game series at Mayo Field.

Left-hander Maclain Roberts turned in his best outing of the season, tossing seven innings while allowing just two hits and one run with six strikeouts.

Thunder Bay struck first in the opening inning. Leadoff hitter Manny Alberto singled before Lincoln Pack drew a walk and Dante Smith added another base hit. A groundout by Stevie Waters brought home Alberto, giving the Border Cats an early 1-0 advantage.

Border Cats starter Mason Kosowick, fresh off a College World Series run with Georgia, matched Roberts early by keeping Rochester’s offense in check.

The Honkers answered in the bottom of the second. After a leadoff walk, Tim Ford delivered an RBI single to even the score at 1-1.

From there, both starters settled into a true pitchers’ duel.

Rochester broke the tie in the fifth inning when Ford was hit by a pitch to begin the frame. He quickly stole second base before advancing to third and eventually scoring on two wild pitches from Kosowick, giving the Honkers a 2-1 lead.

Roberts continued to dominate, returning for the seventh inning and completing his longest outing of the summer. After struggling in his previous start against Rockford, the lefty bounced back in impressive fashion.

“I think it’s just focus-based, wanting to do my best to help the team win,” Roberts said. “Obviously after a bad outing last week, I wanted to bounce back.”

Cam Grenert took over in the eighth and worked a scoreless inning, setting the stage for an important insurance run.

Sam Harry led off the bottom of the eighth with a single before advancing to second on a groundout and to third on another wild pitch. With the infield playing in, a slow chopper to shortstop forced a difficult throw for Manny Alberto, allowing Harry to score and extend Rochester’s lead to 3-1.

That extra run proved to be the difference.

Thunder Bay mounted one final rally in the ninth. After the first out, Dante Smith drove an opposite-field solo home run to cut the deficit to 3-2.

Grenert responded by striking out Alex Kean before inducing a flyout to center field to end the game and secure Rochester’s first victory of the season over the Border Cats.

Field manager Jason Jácome said the late insurance run was critical.

“Score runs late, you really need it because you never know what’s going to happen at the end,” Jácome said. “To go out there, get on base and score another run for us, it ended up being the winning run. Sam’s just been a great player all year. You can’t ask for anything better from him.”

With the victory, Rochester improved to 18-14, matching its win total from the entire 2025 season. Jácome has made an immediate impact in his first season as field manager, guiding the Honkers to one of their strongest first-half performances in recent years.

Rochester now heads out on a four-game road trip before returning to Mayo Field next Thursday to open a two-game series against Mankato. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m.

###

The Rochester Honkers are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. The Northwoods League is the proven leader in the development of elite college baseball players. Now in its’ 32nd season, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 24 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, 360 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including three-time All-Star and 2016 Roberto Clemente Award winner Curtis Granderson, three-time Cy Young Award winner and two-time World Series Champion Max Scherzer (TOR), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist and Brandon Crawford  and World Series Champion and Cy Young Award winner Chris Sale (ATL). As well as 2019 Rookie of the Year and 2019/2021 Home Run Derby Champion Pete Alonso (NYM) and 2021 All-Star, MLB Gold Glove winner and 2019 Second Team All-MLB shortstop Marcus Semien (TEX). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League website. League games are viewable live on FloSports. For more information, visit www.rochesterhonkers.com or download the new Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play and set the Honkers as your favorite team.