BORDER CATS FALL SHORT IN SERIES OPENER VERSUS EXPRESS

The Thunder Bay Border Cats stranded the bases loaded in the 9th as the Eau Claire Express take the series opener 3-1 at Port Arthur Stadium. Reagan MacDonald struck out Trent Athmann to seal Eau Claire’s 2nd win of the season. The Express scored 2 runs in the top half of the 9th as Nic Ready hit a sacrifice fly followed by Tommy Gillman scoring on a wild pitch. Max Christoff picked up the loss for the Cats giving up 2 earned runs over 2 and a 3rd innings. MacDonald got the victory for Eau Claire going 2 innings striking out 4 and walking 3. Spencer Myers had a game high 4 hits for the Express bumping his season average up to .355. Nick Conti led the way for the Cats with 3 hits and a run scored. Jake Harrison hurled a beauty for the Express throwing 7 innings giving up just a single run while striking out 7. John Sakowski threw 4 relief innings for the Cats giving up no earned runs and striking out 5. The two teams wrap up their 2-game series Tuesday morning with an 11:05 am 1st pitch. It is School Day at the ballpark. The Border Cats will continue their 6-game home stand Wednesday night at 7:05 pm as the Willmar Stingers visit Port Arthur for the 1st of 2 games. Box office opens at 9:30 am.