The Thunder Bay Border Cats waited out a long rain delay Saturday night in Lacrosse, but their patience paid off with an 8-3 victory over the Loggers to move back into sole possession of first place in the Great Plains East Division. The story of the game was work of the Cats bullpen as Billy Humphrey (Western Illinois University), Barron Sawyer (Nicholls State University), and Cole Poirrier (Nicholls State University) combined to throw seven shutout innings in relief, allowing just two hits, with no walks, and eight strikeouts. Humphrey tossed two innings to get the win, improving his record to 3-0. Michael Pirrello (University of California-Irvine) was the opener in his debut for Thunder Bay and he gave up three runs on a home run off the bat of Michael Dixon (Concordia-Irvine) in the second inning.
Tyler Kehoe (South Alabama) led the at the Cats at the plate, going 3-for-5, with two runs scored and a run batted in. Trey Lewis (South Alabama) had two hits and two runs batted in, while Brayden Kuriger (Nicholls State) added two hits and one RBI. Patrick Engskov (University of Oklahoma) had a two-run double when Thunder Bay put the game away with a four-run seventh inning.
The Cats (14-9), now hold a one game lead over Duluth, Eau Claire and Rochester in a tight battle for the first half division title. The Cats and Loggers wrap up their four-game series Sunday at 6:05pm ET. Matthew Tippie (Texas State University) takes the mound for Thunder Bay. The righthander is 0-1 in three appearances this season with a 3.86 earned run average.
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The Thunder Bay Border Cats 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’ 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, over 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). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League website. League games are viewable live at watchnwl.com and on ESPN+. For more information, visit www.bordercatsbaseball.com or download the new Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play and set the Rockers as your favorite team.
