THUNDER BAY – On just about any other club, Logan Johnson would be the top hitter on the team – and it wouldn’t be close.
For now, with the Border Cats, he’ll have to settle for the second-best average, despite hitting .423 in 19 games this season, after a 3-for-4 performance on Friday night that helped propel Thunder Bay past the first-place Waterloo Bucks 8-5 and a sweep of their two-game set at Port Arthur Stadium.
Johnson barrelled a couple of doubles and drove in one run, scoring once as the Cats won for a third straight outing, improving to 15-10, keeping pace with the La Crosse Loggers, who took over sole possession of top spot in the Great Plains East on Friday night with a 14-5 win over the Rochester Honkers.
The Border Cats needed the bats to come through early, after spotting the Bucks a 4-1 lead in the top of the third.
Being down doesn’t daunt this team, said Johnson, whose brother Cameron pitches out of the Thunder Bay bullpen.
“We don’t waver. We just focus on our team. The other teams can do what they do. We know we swing it really well. Our pitching staff is going to keep us in a lot of games, so regardless of how many they put up in the first couple of innings, we’re going to continue to swing it and continue to stay in ballgames. Obviously, it makes it easy having people like Jordan Bach and Kael Babin getting on base and Manny Alberto coming in and driving in runs,” said Johnson, a native of Burlington, Ont.
Bach, hitting .433 after a 2-for-4 night that saw him drive in a pair, extending his hitting streak to six and his team leading RBI total to 26, had another solid effort, while donning the tools of ignorance behind the plate and keeping the pitching staff, particularly the bullpen, calm in the face of inning after inning of opportunities presented to the Bucks batters.
Waterloo took advantage of an error by shortstop Manny Alberto to open the contest, which ultimately led to a two-run double off the bat of left-fielder Jake Bechtel.
The Cats got one back in the bottom of the second, Kael Babin beating out a potential inning-ending double play that allowed Camden Tanner, who drew a leadoff walk against Waterloo starter Alex Alberico, to score.
The Bucks got to Thunder Bay starter John McDonald again in the third, and once again, a leadoff walk led to trouble, one of six times Waterloo’s first hitter of an inning drew a free pace. Bechtel singled in Marcus Heusohn and Jimmy Nugent scored the Bucks fourth run of the night on a Brody Leyboldt groundout.
Once against, the Thunder Bay bats had an answer.
A Johnson double and back-to-back walks loaded the bases and Jeremy Sheffield came through with a two-run single, cutting the Waterloo lead to 4-3.
Both starters were gone in the third, and it was the Border Cats bullpen that stepped up in a big way.
George Hansen got them out of a jam in the third, then pitched three more innings of one-hit, shutout ball.
Jimmy Cerha took over and gave two innings of solid relief, allowing one run on two hits, while striking out three.
“George, Jimmy and Carter (Wall) were phenomenal. The bullpen, they carried us. That’s the reason we won the game,” said Cats manager Joe Ellison.
Bach’s loop single to left plated the tying run in the fourth and Thunder Bay took the lead for good in the sixth, with Konner Entz on in relief for the Bucks.
Back drew a no-out, bases loaded walk to break the 4-4 tie, Johnson delivered a sacrifice fly and Alberto singled in a third run, making it 7-4.
The Bucks (18-8) got one run back in the ninth, but Wall struck out the side in the inning to preserve the win.
The Cats (15-10) head to Rochester to start a six-game road trip on Saturday.
