THUNDER BAY – If the Thunder Bay Border Cats do the improbable and win their way into the Northwoods League playoffs, Wednesday night’s win will be the turning point.
Down 9-1 after four innings, the Cats bats picked up speed in the fifth and never slowed down, the team rallying to pull out a wild 13-12 over the visiting Duluth Huskies in in 10 innings, Jeremy Sheffield singling home Corey Morro from second with the game-winning run off Duluth closer Danny Hesse.
An inning earlier, down to their last strike with runners on second and third, trailing 12-10, catcher Ayden Hadley came through in the clutch, lashing a single to the opposite field that scored both runners and sent the game to extras.
“You’ve got to kind of turn off the scoreboard sometimes and keep grinding out and eventually things will fall,” said Hadley, who also scored twice, part of a 2-for-4 night at the plate that also included a pair of walks.
“A lot of guys had barrels right at guys, but it didn’t matter, we just kept on pushing.”
Sheffield, who leads the Border Cats with 41 RBIs, said he and his teammates, new and old, have said it all season long – the Cats fight.
“If there’s an out on the board, we’ve got a shot. I’m really excited, because I think one through nine, we did our job. Just to come through with a small knock – but I think the hero tonight is Hadley. That was a hell of an at bat, to grind that out and come through with a big knock for a chance to stay alive,” Sheffield said, crowded by a throng of Port Arthur Stadium fans seeking his signature on everything from a broken bat to a pair of Crocs.
“That’s just massive. I’m just glad the Cats could get a win tonight.”
Reliever Collin Berry set the stage.
Brought on to start the ninth, he sat down three of four batters in his first inning of work and then, with Rowan Kelly placed on second to start the 10th, struck out Noah Furcht, Elijah Fairchild and George McIntyre, who homered earlier in the contest and finished a triple away from hitting for the cycle, to set the stage for the Border Cats to put it away in the bottom half of the inning.
Earlier in the night, a six-run third threatened to do the Border Cats in, chasing starter Ethan Minaker after 2.1 innings of work, tagged for six runs on three hits and three walks. He also made an error and allowed a run to score on a wild pitch.
Kelly and Furcht reached to open the inning, then with one out, McIntyre slammed a double to left that scored both runners.
Will Humphrey took over with runners on first and second and was immediately greeted by a Reagan Reeder RBI single. Then, with two outs, Cal Elvis singled to centre to score two more, followed by another RBI single by Kelly.
When Ethan Surowiec hit his 14th home run of the season, tying for the league lead, the Huskies were up 9-1 and on their way to shaving another game off their magic number, which started the day at six.
Enter Sheffield and company.
The third baseman walked to open the fifth and raced home on a Jacob Steinberg double. Hadley doubled to score Calvin Warrillow and Caleb Watkins crossed the plate on a Corey Morro groundout. Their fourth run of the inning scored on an error by shortstop McIntyre, one of four the Huskies made on the night.
Bracken Rice took over to start the sixth and gave up two runs, the big blast a Paul Contreras triple with one aboard. He then scored on a single by Reed, Duluth taking an 11-5 lead. Thunder Bay got single runs back in the sixth and seventh, cutting the lead to 11-7.
Duluth added a run in the eighth - but Watkins came up throwing on a fly ball to right and gunned down McIntrye trying to advance to third, the double play ending the threat.
The Border Cats were able to use the momentum to their advantage.
Kaiden Ashton doubled with the bases loaded in the bottom of the eighth, cashing in all three runners to pull Thunder Bay within two, down 12-10.
“It was a heck of an effort from the guys. We were a little flat early, but they fought and fought. They wanted the Sup(erior) Cup, I can tell you that.”
The Cats (12-14) are now 5.5 games back of Duluth (18-9), with six of their 10 remaining games against the Huskies.
The two teams play again on Thursday night at Wade Stadium in Duluth.
