Border Cats blank MoonDogs in second-half opener

Carter McEachern showed the Canada Day crowd he can do it all.

The Thunder Bay-born third baseman collected two hits in three trips to the plate, walked once, stole two bases and made a pair of diving stabs with the leather to lead the Border Cats to a 2-0 win over the visiting Mankato MoonDogs in the second-half opener for both sides.

Having it happen on his country’s national holiday made it all that more special for McEachern, a junior at Texas-based Trinity University.
“It’s definitely a good feeling, especially on Canada Day. We had a good crowd out tonight and to get the W is the most important thing,” said McEachern, now batting a hefty .344 on the season, sixth best in the Northwoods League.

He’s also in the midst of a five-game hitting streak and has hit safely in nine of the last 10.
He’s making an impression on manager Danny Benedetti, who said McEachern’s veteran presence and experience in the field is starting to show.

Though he has struggled a bit in the field this season with six errors, the fourth most at his position, he’s starting to come around.

Take the fourth inning, for example.

With one on and one out, McEachern dove to his right and snagged a low liner off the bat of Mankato’s Kyle Weston, and had the presence of mind to fire a bullet to first to double off Mikel Mucha.

“Him asking questions about hitters to coach Tyler Marmion, who runs the defence, and the positioning from hitter to hitter, he’s done a great job,” Benedetti said after the win, in front of 1,115 fans at TbayTel Park at Port Arthur Stadium.

“He put himself in that situation right there just to make a diving play. It was a step and a dive from the bag and it was a no-doubles mentality. He made the play and he was out by a step.”

The win, boosted by a second-straight shutout performance by a much-improved pitching staff – led Wednesday by reliever-turned-starter Cole Stapler – was a sign of the times, McEachern added.

“Pitching has been outstanding so far. And pitching wins baseball games. If you don’t give any runs up then it’s pretty tough to lose a game and our pitching has been lights out from first pitch to last pitch the last 10 games,” McEachern said.

Stapler and his Mankato counterpart Grant Hamilton, who entered play with a 3-0 record and 0.92 earned run average, were solid in the early going.

Stapler didn’t allow a hit until the third, when Jack Flansburg hit a two-out single and only gave up four on the day, a seven-inning effort that saw him strike out four and walk an equal number of batters.

Alan Baldwin provided all the offence the Cats would need, a two-out single in the third willing its way to the grass to plate McEachern and Grant McKown.

Baldwin said the offence, which has only scored four times in the past three outings, needs to create timely hits.

“We just know when we get guys on we just have to do the job,” said Baldwin, who was 1-for-4 in the matinee contest.

“I got blown up and it landed where someone wasn’t. Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good, right?”

Cat tracks: Mankato assistant coach Ryan Kragh was a member of the Thunder Bay Whiskey Jacks in the Northern League team’s final season in 1998. He finished 1-3 with a 6.66 ERA … The Cats and MoonDogs wrap up their three-game set on Thursday.