The Thunder Bay Border Cats got back into the win column Saturday night beating the Waterloo Bucks 7-6 before 828 fans at Port Arthur Stadium. The Cats let a 4-0 lead slip away , but scored three times in the bottom of the sixth inning to regain a 7-4 lead, as they went on to snap a two-game losing skid and improve their overall record to 27-34.
Peter Fusek (Western Illinois University) led Thunder Bay’s 15-hit attack, going 3-for-5, with a double and two runs scored and the Chicago native also had a stellar night playing left field. Colton Allen (Texas A&M University-Kingsville also had three hits and knocked in a pair of runs while Blake Warner (Viterbo University), Cade Marquardt (Briar Cliff University), and Ben Keske (Iowa Central Community College) all collected two hits.
Ryan Vondracek (Crown College) picked up the win in relief to up his record to 1-2 and Michael Pirrello (University of California-Irvine) recorded the final seven outs for his second save of the season.
The Cats continue their final six-game homestand on Sunday afternoon at 1:35pm with the second game of their two-game series with the Bucks. Karson Shepherd (Texas A&M University-Kingsville) gets the start on the mound for the Cats. The righthander is 1-1 in seven games this season with a 4.58 ERA. Sunday is “Family Day” with four tickets, four hot dogs, four Pepsi and four bags of Old Dutch chips all for just $44.00 and kids can run the bases after the game. It’s also Team Photo Day presented by Primary Foto Source as the first 250 kids thru the gates receive a 2023 Border Cats team photo.
(photo of Peter Fusek courtesy of James Mirabelli Photography)
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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 Border Cats as your favorite team.
