Former Thunder Bay Border Cats infielder Ryan Court made his Major League debut on Friday night with the Seattle Mariners after being called up from the AAA Tacoma Rainiers.  The 31-year old Court, who played for the Border Cats in 2010, appeared as a pinch hitter in the 9th inning of the Mariners 3-2 win over the Tigers in Seattle and lined out to Detroit left fielder Niko Goodrum in his only at-bat.  Court was selected in the 23rd round of the 2011 MLB Draft by the Arizona Diamondbacks and also played in the Boston Red Sox and Chicago Cubs organizations.  He spent the 2015 season with the Sioux City Explorers of the independent American Association.  The Illinois State product played in 56 games for the Border Cats in 2010 and batted and team leading .304 with three home runs and 23 runs batted in.  Court becomes the seventh Border Cats player to reach the major leagues.

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The Northwoods League is the proven leader in the development of elite college baseball players. The 25-year old summer collegiate league is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 22 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, over 200 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS), World Series Champions Ben Zobrist (CHC), Brandon Crawford (SFG) and Chris Sale (BOS). As well as MLB All-Stars Jordan Zimmermann (DET) and Curtis Granderson (MIA). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League website. For more information, visit www.northwoodsleague.comor download the Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play.