The Thunder Bay Border Cats climbed above the .500 mark on Monday as they scored three times in the bottom of the eighth inning to edge the Waterloo Bucks 4-3 before 811 fans at Port Arthur Stadium. It was the Cats third straight win and improved their record to 9-8. After a Logan Johnstone (Gonzaga University) RBI single broke open a scoreless game, giving Thunder Bay a 1-0 lead in the fifth inning, the Bucks scored a trio of runs in the top of the eighth to grab a 3-1 lead. But the Cats bounced back with three runs of their own in the last half of the inning on a run scoring single by Dalton Mullins (Angelina College) and a game winning two-run base hit by Patrick Engskov (University of Oklahoma).
Mullins led the way at the plate with two hits while Thunder Bay starter Matthew Tippie (Texas State University) pitched five shutout innings, allowing just two hits with seven strikeouts. Ryan Beaird (Texas-San Antonio) picked up the win in relief, while Caleb Bunch (Ranger College) got the final three outs for the save in his first appearance out of the bullpen this season.
The Cats and Bucks play a split-doubleheader on Tuesday with games at 11:05am and 6:35pm. Southpaw Evans Hendricks (Texas-Corpus Christi) is scheduled to pitch the opener and righthander Robert Spencer (Texas A&M-Kingsville) the nightcap for Thunder Bay.
(photo of #27 Cole Ketzner courtesy of James Mirabelli Photography)
###
The Northwoods League is the proven leader in the development of elite college baseball players. Entering its’ 30th 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, 325 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 World Series Champion Max Scherzer (NYM), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist and Brandon Crawford (SFG) and World Series Champion Chris Sale (BOS). 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). League games are viewable live for FREE via the Northwoods League website at watchnwl.com as well as select games on ESPN+ and ESPNU. For more information, visit www.northwoodsleague.com or download the Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play.
