Jackson Cooke celebrates with his teammates following his first inning grand slam home run in Rochester.
Jackson Cooke (University of Tennessee at Martin) connected for a first inning grand slam and the Thunder Bay Border Cats went on to beat the Rochester Honkers 12-5 at Mayo Field on Saturday night. The win snapped a two-game losing skid for Thunder Bay and improved the Cats first place record in the Great Plains East Division to 12-7 and
30-23 overall on the season. The Cats now lead the second half standings by 1.5 games over second place Duluth with Rochester two games back.
After the Honkers responded with three runs of their own in the last of the first inning to cut the lead to 4-3, the Cats added two runs in the third, one in the eighth on an RBI double by Cole Ketzner (University of South Alabama), to put Thunder Bay up 7-5, and then put the game away with a five-run ninth inning. Cooke drove in four runs on the night and also walked three times, while Trey Fikes (Three Rivers College) knocked in a pair of runs. Sam Stem (Gonzaga University), Keegan Garis (Indiana State University), Ty Hamilton (Florida Southwestern State College), and Garrett Sloan (Bowling Green State University) all collected two hits.
Peter Fusek (University of Wisconsin-Parkside) came out of the bullpen to make a spot start for the Cats and allowed four runs on seven hits with four strikeouts over 4 2/3 innings. Bode Gebbink (Missouri University of Science & Technology) picked up his first win by giving up one run on four hits over 2 1/3 innings with three strikeouts. Lefty Ryan Vondracek (Crown College) returned to the Cats and pitched two shutout innings with three strikeouts in his first appearance to close out the victory.
The Cats and Honkers close out their two-game series on Sunday in the final game before the All-Star break. Righthander Colin Slivka (Oakton Community College) is scheduled to make his season debut on the mound for Thunder Bay. First pitch is scheduled for 6:05pm ET.
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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. Entering its’ 31st season, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 26 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 350 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 (TEX), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist and Brandon Crawford (STL) and World Series Champion Chris Sale (ATL). As well as 2019 Rookie of the Year and 2019/2021 Home Run Derby Champion Pete Alonso (NYM) and 2023 World Series Champion, 2021 and 2023 All-Star, MLB Gold Glove winner and two-time All-MLB first team 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.
