Ty Brooks (pictured), barrels up a ball in the Border Cats 4-1 win over Rochester Honkers on “Bark In The Park Night” at Port Arthur Stadium.

The Thunder Bay Border Cats took over sole possession of first place atop the Great Plains East Division as they completed a two-game sweep of Rochester with a 4-1 victory over the Honkers before 1,112 fans on Wednesday at Port Arthur Stadium. The Cats are now 11-5 in the second half standings and lead the Honkers (9-5), by one game. Thunder Bay improved its overall record to 29-21, also tops in the division.

The Cats were down 1-0 and being no-hit by Rochester lefthander Dylan Tostrup until there were two outs in the fifth inning when Trey Fikes (Three Rivers College) connected for his first home run over the left field wall to tie the game 1-1. Cole Ketzner (University of South Alabama) produced the game winning run in the last of the seventh inning when he lined a ball over the fence in the right field corner, for his team leading sixth homer of the season. Zane Skansi (Creighton University) added two big insurance runs with a single to centre field in the bottom of the eighth.

On the mound, Terrance Moody (St. Cloud Technical & CC) picked up his first win in relief. The righthander pitched four innings and allowed one run on three hits, while striking out four. Southpaw Troy McLeese (Rock Valley College) came out of the bullpen and shut down the Honkers by tossing four scoreless innings and surrendering just one hit with three strikeouts for his first save of the year.

The Cats now hit the road for 14 straight games starting Thursday when they open a two-game series in Waterloo against the Bucks at 7:35pm ET. Mason Lemons (Arkansas State University-Mountain Home) will pitch the opener for Thunder Bay.

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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.