ST. CLOUD ROX vs. THUNDER BAY BORDER CATS

June 11 & 12 

Port Arthur Stadium (Thunder Bay, Ontario) 

 

Thursday, June 11 – 6:35 p.m. ET / 5:35 p.m. CT 

Pitching: RHP Caleb Matthews (0-1, 1.93 ERA) vs. RHP Matteo Pare (0-0, 9.00 ERA) 

Watch: FloSports 

Listen: 93.9FM/1390 AM Granite City Sports Radio 

 

Friday, June 12 – 6 35 p.m. ET / 5:35 p.m. CT 

Pitching: RHP Tyler Phenow (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. LHP Tyler Bribiescas (0-1, 2.40 ERA) 

Watch: FloSports 

Listen: 93.9FM/1390 AM Granite City Sports Radio 

 

Follow the Game  

• Follow along to every Northwoods League game on the NWL scoreboard, and get up to the minute information with the Play-by-Play feature.  

• All matchups, home and away, can be streamed on FloSports with a subscription.  

• Every game of the 2026 season can be heard on 93.9FM and 1390AM Granite City Sports Radio, and on the Granite City Sports website. Dylan Budd, Danny Berg, and Riley Klaus call every game from the Eide Chrysler St. Cloud Studios. 

 

St. Cloud vs. Thunder Bay 

• The Rox and Border Cats have played 10 times since 2023, with the Rox winning six of the games. 

• Last season, the teams faced off three times with the Rox winning two of the games. Thunder Bay won the opener of a two-game set in Ontario, and St. Cloud won game two. The two faced off for a single game in the Granite City in late July with the Rox winning 6-1. 

• The Rox are 4-2 in the last three years in Thunder Bay. 

 

Recounting Minot 

The Rox completed a six-game stretch against the Minot Hot Tots, where the first four games were played in North Dakota and the second two were played in St. Cloud. The Rox went 3-1 in the Minot portion of the series with all three of the wins being double-digit blowouts. The blowouts did not translate to Joe Faber Field, however. 

Monday’s game featured a pitcher’s duel sans last Friday’s contest, but the pitching for the Rox won out in this round leading to a 3-0 Rox win. Ethan Felling earned his first start and threw four innings with just one hit allowed. Eli Lamb followed it up with three innings of his own and carved up six strikeouts. Now-five-year Rox pitcher Brandon Jaenke was called upon to pick up the save at the end of the game, and struck out two Hot Tots in 1.2 innings. Nolan Geislinger kept up the hot bat driving in two runs and swiping two bases as well, bringing his season total to 12 at the time. 

Tuesday saw the Rox and Hot Tots duke it out on offense through the first four frames, with St. Cloud taking a 5-3 lead. The Rox couldn’t build off a solid Josiah Petersen start, as the bats for the Hot Tots were able to break through on St. Cloud’s arms for the first time in the series, leading to an 8-5 Minot victory. Brett White made his first start of the season for the Rox and went 2-for-4 with a triple and an RBI, and Geislinger kept his bat hot with two more hits to improve his season batting average to .370. 

 

Matthews Makes His Mark 

Caleb Matthews will make his first start on Thursday for the Rox. Matthews has been a flamethrower out of the bullpen, with 4.2 innings throughout four appearances this year. He holds a 1.93 earned run average, with seven strikeouts. 

Matthews’ best appearance came on June 2nd at Willmar. Matthews faced six batters, striking out the first five before forcing a broken-bat groundout to finalize a 9-4 Rox victory. 

 

Phenow Looks to Build 

Following a standout performance against the Minot Hot Tots last week, righty Tyler Phenow will make another start for the Rox. After making his first appearance out of the bullpen, Phenow twirled seven scoreless innings against the Hot Tots last Friday. He struck out six in his outing while only allowing three baserunners (all hits).  

Phenow comes from Texas Christian University where he made 13 appearances, all out of the bullpen, for the Horned Frogs this spring. He pitched 10 innings but allowed 13 runs with six strikeouts on his ledger. 

 

Rox Return North of the Border 

The Rox return to Thunder Bay for the first time in a calendar year to square off against the Border Cats. The six-hour trip sees the Rox cross through Duluth before travelling northeast along Lake Superior. St. Cloud has made a trip to Ontario each of the last four seasons, with last year’s visit also coming in mid-June (June 12 & 13). 

 

St. Cloud Sits at the Top 

The Rox still top the Northwoods League, boasting a 12-4 record. They lead the Great Plains West by four games, and the league by half a game. As a team, they’ve peppered the league leaderboards, both on offense and on defense, just one of 4 teams with both a top-10 batting average (4th) and earned run average (7th). 

 

Back With A Vengeance 

Although the Rox have lost just four times, the offense averages 12 runs per game in contests after a loss. That rate has catapulted the Rox to second in the Northwoods League in total runs scored, at 130. Only the Wausau Woodchucks have more, with 156. Most recently, after the 4-3 loss to the Hot Tots on June 5, the Rox dropped 13 the next day.  The Rox outscored Minot 55-19 in the six-game span. 

 

Team Full of Versatility 

With a cast of highly talented and moveable position players, the Rox coaching staff has taken full advantage of being able to move around men across the diamond while still producing quality defense. 

Tanner Recchio has made appearances both in the infield and the outfield, making starts at second base and right field thus far in 2026. Recchio is expected to make his seventh start in the outfield on Thursday evening. 

Tyler Holland, Jackson Akin, and Justin Lang have been super-utility players on the infield for the Rox. Holland and Lang have made starts at every position except first, while Akin has started at every position except shortstop, which is his natural spot. 

Owen Estabrook, one of St. Cloud’s catchers, has been learning more steadily a new position at first base. Estabrook has made two starts at first while still platooning the dish with Carter Jorissen. 

Recently activated Rox returner Alex Dupuy is the definition of a Swiss-army knife on defense. Dupuy has made starts at third base, shortstop, and left field in only a handful of games. Dupuy can play just about every position on the field, and can deliver solid innings as a bullpen piece. 

 

About Faber Field  

Joe Faber Field is located on the westside of St. Cloud in the city’s Municipal Athletic Complex.  The complex features two of the finest baseball fields in the state – Dick Putz Field and Joe Faber Field. Additionally, the complex features Veterans Public Golf Course and two ice arenas, Torrey Arena and Ritsche Arena. The park opened in 1998 and has a capacity of 2,000 people.   

  

Attend a Rox Game 

Fans can visit stcloudrox.com and hover over the drop-down “Tickets” menu on the homepage. Fans can also call 320-240-9798 for ticket information, or can visit the ticket office inside the Municipal Athletic Complex’s ice arena lobby during regular business hours. 

 

Up Next  

The Rox will take on the Willmar Stingers beginning on Saturday in a four-game series. Saturday, Sunday, and Tuesday’s games will be played in St. Cloud, and Monday’s game will be played in Willmar. 

Saturday’s game will start at 7:05 p.m.; Sunday will have a 4:05 p.m. first pitch; Monday and Tuesday’s games will get underway at 6:35 p.m. After this series is complete, the two will not play again until after the All-Star break, and Willmar will not return to Joe Faber Field until July 24.