DULUTH, Minn. – If the Borders Cats schedule in 2025 consisted only of the Duluth Huskies, they’d be postseason favourites.
The Cats scored multiple runs in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings on Saturday to double up the host Huskies 10-5 at Wade Stadium, beating them for the ninth time in 12 meetings this season.
The win finalized Thunder Bay’s second-half record at 19-17, good for third place in the Northwoods League’s Great Plains East Division, 3.5 games out of top spot and a game behind the 21-17 Waterloo Bucks, who played two more games than the Cats in the second half.
The Cats also posted the third-best record overall in the division, at 40-30, their most wins since their 2008 championship team.
Down 4-3 to start the seventh, the Border Cats took the lead for good with a two-run frame.
Dylan Snead and Porter Jorgenson each drew walks to open the inning. Kaiden Ashton hit into a run-scoring fielder’s choice to even the game 4-4 and Corey Morro followed with another RBI ground out, giving Thunder Bay a 5-4 advantage, with Jayden Watts on the hill for the Huskies.
A Duncan Key double added another run and he’d later come home on a two-out error by Huskies catcher Sam Schneider.
It was a rough ninth inning for Huskies reliever Elijah Fairchild, normally a position player, in the ninth, Duluth trying to preserve arms to open the playoffs on Sunday against the La Crosse Loggers.
Morro, Jeremy Sheffield and Jacob Steinberg drew walks to load the bases and Fairchild then issued free passes to Junior Lopez and Duncan Key to plate two more. Steinberg rounded out the scoring, coming home on a Dylan Snead ground out.
Nate Herchock came in and closed things out in the ninth, allowing a two-out on a wild pitch before retiring Scheider to end the contest.
Ethan Minaker got the start for Thunder Bay and lasted into the fifth, allowing four runs on eight hits and five walks. Jabe Schlehuber earned the win, tossing 3.1 innings of one-hit, shutout relief.
