{"id":19533,"date":"2026-05-25T21:28:48","date_gmt":"2026-05-26T02:28:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/waterloo-bucks\/?p=19533"},"modified":"2026-05-25T21:28:48","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T02:28:48","slug":"border-cats-survive-late-bucks-surge-win-11-9-on-opening-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/waterloo-bucks\/2026\/05\/25\/border-cats-survive-late-bucks-surge-win-11-9-on-opening-day\/","title":{"rendered":"Border Cats Survive Late Bucks Surge, Win 11-9 on Opening Day"},"content":{"rendered":"

Waterloo, IA – Although Mitchell Iliff went 4-5 with a home run and three RBIs, Thunder Bay staved off the last chance comeback effort from Waterloo to take the Opening Day win, 11-9.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In the top of the second inning, the Border Cats started the scoring. Lincoln Pack delivered an RBI single to put Thunder Bay on top 1-0. Later, with the bases loaded, Owen Ralph worked a walk to force home a run to make it 2-0.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In the top of the fourth, Pack led off with a double, then came around to score on a Stevie Waters single to extend the lead to 3-0.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In the top of the fifth, the Border Cats built on that lead. Two walks put a runner in scoring position for Waters, who delivered another RBI single to make it 4-0. One batter later, a fielding error allowed another run to come home to push the lead to 5-0.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In the home half of the frame, the Bucks got those runs back. After a Caleb Seibers walk, Mitchell Iliff pounded an RBI double to the warning track to bring Seibers in to make it 5-1. Dane Most followed with a single to plate Iliff and cut the lead to 5-2.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In the bottom of the seventh, Waterloo brought it to within one. Cole Patterson led off the frame with a single, then stole second. Iliff ripped a base hit to right to plate Patterson to make it 5-3. After a steal, Iliff scored from second base on a fielding error to chisel the lead to 5-4.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

That was the closest the Bucks would get in this game as Thunder Bay responded with two runs in the eighth, then four more in the top of the ninth.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

With their last chance at-bats, Iliff crushed a home run to center, then George Baker hit a bases clearing double down the right field line but it was not enough to overcome the deficit as the Border Cats prevailed in a 11-9 victory.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

With the loss, Waterloo falls to 0-1 on the season. The Bucks matchup in the final game of the series against the Border Cats Tuesday evening at 6:35. Both starters are TBD.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Waterloo, IA – Although Mitchell Iliff went 4-5 with a home run and three RBIs, Thunder Bay staved off the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":165,"featured_media":19534,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19533","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-team-news"],"yoast_head":"\nBorder Cats Survive Late Bucks Surge, Win 11-9 on Opening Day - Waterloo Bucks<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/waterloo-bucks\/2026\/05\/25\/border-cats-survive-late-bucks-surge-win-11-9-on-opening-day\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Border Cats Survive Late Bucks Surge, Win 11-9 on Opening Day\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Waterloo, IA – Although Mitchell Iliff went 4-5 with a home run and three RBIs, Thunder Bay staved off the [...]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/waterloo-bucks\/2026\/05\/25\/border-cats-survive-late-bucks-surge-win-11-9-on-opening-day\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Waterloo Bucks\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-26T02:28:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/assets.northwoodsleague.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-25-at-9.23.22-PM.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"702\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"876\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"lukevera\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"lukevera\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/waterloo-bucks\/2026\/05\/25\/border-cats-survive-late-bucks-surge-win-11-9-on-opening-day\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/waterloo-bucks\/2026\/05\/25\/border-cats-survive-late-bucks-surge-win-11-9-on-opening-day\/\",\"name\":\"Border Cats Survive Late Bucks Surge, Win 11-9 on Opening Day - 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