WILLMAR, Minn. – The Thunder Bay Border Cats pitching staff was no match Tuesday night for the Willmar Stingers bats.
Starter Brandon Williamson was torched for five runs on three hits and a pair of walks and couldn’t escape the first inning, paving the way for the Border Cats to go down to a resounding 12-1 defeat on the opening night of the 2017 Northwoods League campaign.
Caleb Ledbetter and Tyler Reichenborn drove in three runs apiece for Willmar, whose batters rapped out 11 hits, walking five times.
Thunder Bay’s lone run came in the fourth, Gabriel Lozada coming home on Braden Mosley’s fielder’s choice.
Brandon Fokkema and Jacob Kari came in to mop up Williamson’s mess, and neither one proved all that effective in relief. Fokkema tossed four innings, giving up four runs on four hits, while Kari took over in the sixth and surrendered three more on Ledbetter’s three-run homerun in the sixth.
Lozada, Colin Rosenbaum and Jared McCunn each collected two hits for the Border Cats, six of Stingers starter Jake Rothwell (W, 1-0).
Rothwell lasted six innings, allowing a single run on six hits.
It was the second straight season-opening loss for Thunder Bay, who started last season 0-15. They last won their opener in 2015, downing Eau Claire 7-0.
The two teams hook up again on Wednesday.
