THUNDER BAY – The Thunder Bay Border Cats generosity only extends so far.
The Border Cats committed four errors, left nine men on base and surrendered a 3-0 lead to the visiting Eau Claire Express, but persevered and hung on to edge their opponent 5-4 on Sunday afternoon at Port Arthur Stadium, thanks in large part to lead-off hitter Zane Skansi.
The second-year Border Cats right-fielder came through in the clutch when it mattered most, coming to the plate in the bottom of the eighth, his team trailing 4-3 and runners on first and second.
Skansi, who opened the game with a double and later scored the game’s first run, ripped a single down just inside the third-base line off Express reliever Drew Whalen, plating Greg LeChance and Alex Urlaub with the tying and game-winning runs.
Sean Heppner then came on, and despite allowing the first to Eau Claire batters to reach, pitched himself out of the jam to preserve the win.
Skansi said he wasn’t about to make the same mistake twice.
“In my last at bat I wasn’t aggressive enough. I had runners in scoring position and I didn’t capitalize on it. This at bat I told myself I was going to be a little bit more aggressive, swung at the first fastball I saw and it worked out,” said Skansi, a red-shirt junior at Nebraska’s Creighton University.
Manager J.M. Kelly said that’s the Skansi he hoped he was getting when he brought the Gig Harbour, Wash., native aboard last season.
“He had a rough year last year. He didn’t have a great year at Creighton, didn’t get a lot of opportunity, but that’s the Zane Skansi I recruited to come up here and play in Thunder Bay last year, a guy that wants to be in that moment, wants the bat in his hand,” Kelly said.
“He’s a special player. I can’t say enough good things about him and we’re really lucky to have him up here with us.”
Not bad for a player battling stomach flu this week, the ailment forcing him to leave Saturday’s 14-2 win over the Minnesota Mud Puppies.
Skansi finished the day 3-for-5, with a double and two RBI.
It’s a good sign that the team was able to overcome the mistakes it made, he said.
“It was a good win. We pieced it together when we needed to and that’s how the wins come by sometimes. It was a fun game overall,” Skansi said.
Starter Trevor Baugh was cruising along through four shutout innings, but found trouble in the fifth, an inning extended by a one-out throwing error by LaChance. Instead of two out and nobody on, Baugh only had one out to work with and promptly gave up a double to Brigs Richartz. Peter Fusek was brought in to pitch, but an infield single by Dylan O’Connell allowed George Bilecki to score. Clean-up hitter Davis Rivers singled to score Richartz and O’Connell, who went first-to-third on Rivers’ hit, scored easily on Gabe Richardson’s sacrifice fly.
An error by third baseman Alex Uraub extended the sixth inning for the Express, and with two outs and two on, Logan O’Connell doubled home the go-ahead run, Eau Claire taking a 4-3 lead.
It stood until the eighth.
LaChance drew a lead off walk and Alex Urlaub’s bloop single dropped between a trio of Eau Claire fielders in short centre. The two baserunners were credited with a double steal and both scored on Sakski’s game-winning single.
With two on in the ninth, Justin Sedin’s bunt attempt was snagged by a sliding Cole Ketzner. Heppner then struck out Colton Wemhoff and got Ragan Pinnow on a pop-out to third to end the game. The Express left 14 men on base.
The Cats improved to 6-1 and are one game up on La Crosse in the Great Plains East. Eau Claire slipped to 4-3.
The two teams will meet again on Monday. Game time is 6:35 p.m.
