THUNDER BAY – The Thunder Bay Border Cats are kicking off their home opener alone in first place in the Great Plains East Division.
The Cats won three of four games on the road to start the 2024 Northwoods League season, though couldn’t get a perfect 4-for-4 in the books on Thursday night, walked off by the host La Crosse Loggers (2-2), who edged them 5-4, scoring twice in the bottom of the ninth to pull out the win.
Loggers DH R.J. Hamilton, the team’s clean-up hitter, came to the plate against Border Cats reliever Lucas Terilli, with one out and two one, and doubled to centre, scoring both runners to eke out the victory.
The Cats had taken a 4-3 lead of their own in the top of the ninth, scoring a pair against La Crosse relievers Ozzie Martinez and Luke Vaks.
Terilli walked with the bases loaded and Peter Fusek then came home on a wild pitch. But with runners on second and third and one out, Vaks settled down and retired Kenneth Sugi on a short fly to left and got Greg LaChance to strike out swinging.
Backed by a three-hit, shutout effort from starter Kasai Sugimoto over five innings, the Cats took an early 1-0 lead over the Loggers, after starter Brendan Moody no-hit Thunder Bay during his three innings of work, striking out four.
Logan McIntyre promptly doubled off Will Girardi to start the inning, then scored on a one-out single by Jacob Miller, who was later caught stealing to end the inning.
Thunder Bay doubled its lead in the sixth when Miller drew a two-out walk, took second on a Trey Fikes single and scored on a single to right by Jack Prewett.
The Loggers did their first damage in the seventh off of reliever Ty Hamilton, who entered the game in the sixth.
Cooper Brass led off with a single and landed on third on a Jack Collins double. Brass crossed the plate on a Cam Pruitt groundout and Collins tied the game 2-2, scoring on Gable Mitchell’s double, ending Hamilton’s night.
La Crosse jumped in front in the eighth. Pinch-runner R.J. Hamilton stole second and scored on Derrick Mitchell’s double, giving the Loggers a 3-2 lead, to the delight of the 1,764 in attendance at Copeland Park, affectionately known as the Lumber Yard.
Terilli took the loss, falling to 0-1. The win went to Vaks. La Crosse out-hit Thunder Bay 10-6 on the night.
The Border Cats will host the Minnesota Mud Puppies on Friday night at Port Arthur Stadium. Game time is 7:35 p.m., with fireworks to follow.
