THUNDER BAY – The Thunder Bay Border Cats keep finding ways to win.
They picked up two more victories on Tuesday in the span of six hours, following up the afternoon’s wild 9-8, walk-off win over the Warterloo Bucks with another come-from-behind special in the nightcap, doubling up the Bucks 6-3 to run their winning streak to an impressive five games.
Catcher Jonah Sutton, who broke the second game open with a two-run single, part of a three-run fifth inning that snapped a 3-3 tie, said the Northwoods League team is firing on all cylinders of late, helping the club improve to 11-8 on the season.
“I think a big part of it is, with the slow start at the beginning, is that you get a group of guys where most of us haven’t played together before. It can be hard to play as a team, but I think right now we’re starting to hit our stride – off the field as well – getting to know each other better, learn how to play with each other, getting in sync,” said Sutton, who is hitting .316 on the season in mostly a reserve role, driving in six runs, all on the current homestand.
“I think that’s what’s going on right now. We’re just in sync as a team. We’re playing well together, everyone’s complementing each other. We’ve got all three facets, hitting, pitching and fielding, and when you do those things, more than not good things are going to happen.”
Manger J.M. Kelly sees it much the same way.
His team made 37 errors in its first 14 games, but have only made two in the five games since. That’s one area of improvement. They’ve boosted their batting average from .216 to .255, and now have the eighth best ERA in the league, at 4.49.
“We’re just playing really good baseball right now. Hitters are hitting, pitchers are pitching. The base running is going really well. It’s not where I want it to be, but we’re able to make a few more mistakes because when we get the lead we can play a little more aggressive. But yeah, our guys are doing a really good job right now,” Kelly said.
The Cats jumped out in front in the second, handing starter Robert Spencer a 2-0 lead on an RBI single by Patrick Engskov and a sacrifice fly off the bat of Travis Chestnut.
Spencer found trouble in the third, the first four Bucks batters singling to start the inning, capped by Cortlan Castle’s RBI single. Drake Westcott grounded out to first, tying the game 2-2, and Max Shor followed with a single that scored Castle and gave the Bucks a one-run advantage.
A little small ball drew the Border Cats even in the fourth.
Travis Chestnut walked with two outs, stole second and took third on a throwing error by Waterloo starter Andrew Dusablon, then raced home on a wild pitch.
An inning later the Cats chased Dusablon, who walked Tyler Kehoe to open the inning, hit Peter Fusek and gave up a double to Trey Lewis that gave the home team the lead for good. Sutton then singled both runners in to wrap up the scoring.
Peyton Fosher (2-0) tossed four innings of shutout relief, striking out seven while giving up just four hits and two walks, not allowing a runner to advance past second to earn the win. Tanner Carter came on in the ninth and retired three of four batters to record the save. Dusablon (1-3) took the loss.
“Our pitchers, they come out here every day and they work really, really hard. They’re the most prepared people on the field when they step out on the field and take the mound. Fosher’s had a couple tough ones and he came out today and was lockdown. He was unbelievable,” Sutton said.
The Cats and Bucks wrap up their four-game series on Wednesday night at Port Arthur Stadium. Game time is 6:35 p.m. Thunder Bay's Jack Pineau is on the mound for the Border Cats.
