THUNDER BAY – A double-double-double start was a good sign.
The Thunder Bay Border Cats, buoyed by the return of Jordan Bach, who earlier this week committed to the University of Kansas, and a tremendous start by Makaio Cisneros, sent the Waterloo Bucks a message on Thursday night.
The Cats scored three runs in the first and Cisneros allowed just two runs on two hits and a pair of walks, striking out seven to earn his first victory of the season as Thunder Bay knocked Waterloo out of sole possession of first place in the Great Plains East with a 9-4 triumph in front of 674 fans – and dozens of dogs – at Port Arthur Stadium.
Bach finished 3-for-4 on the night with three RBI, giving him 17 runs batted in over the course of his last five games.
He’s now hitting .429, second to the .438 clip of Wausau’s Christian Smith-Johnson, and has 24 RBIs, tied for third in the Northwoods League with teammate Manny Alberto.
“It’s always good when you get a lead early,” said Bach, who extended his hitting streak to five, with at least two hits in each of those outings.
“It’s obviously easier to play with a lead. It was fun. The boys are doing their jobs. It was good.”
Cisneros was equally important to the win.
He set the Bucks down in order in the first two innings, catcher Trey Fikes throwing out Larry Edwards after a one-out single.
A strong start was just what the Border Cats needed, after running through arms in a high-scoring, four-game series against the La Crosse Loggers.
“It was massive for us. Cisneros has been for us, for lack of a better term, our ace for most of the first half here and for him to go out and give us five – and I think honestly, he wasn’t as efficient as he could have been. If he was more efficient, he could have pitched into the sixth or seventh for us. But a huge start for us,” said manager Joe Ellison.
The Border Cats right-hander got into a bit of trouble in the fourth, walking Marcus Heushon, playing in his 150th Northwoods League game, to open the frame. Jimmy Nugent promptly doubled to right, over Bach’s head. Nugent would later score on an Edwards sacrifice fly, taking third on a wild pitch.
Cisneros exited after setting down the Bucks in order in the fifth and the Cats bats got right back to work, adding four more runs to extend their lead to 7-2.
Waterloo southpaw Kai Purdy-Burton walked Jeremy Sheffield to open the inning. Kael Babin singled. Then, with one out, Bach laced an RBI single to the outfield and stole second.
After Jacob Miller struck out, Lucas Johnson stepped up to the dish and drilled a double to the deepest part of the ballpark plating two more.
Alex Alberico got the call from the bullpen, allowed a single to Fikes and then an error by third baseman Jake Slade resulted in the fourth run of the inning crossing the plate, Thunder Bay taking a 7-2 lead into the sixth.
Griffin Cato faced just three batters, retiring all of them and handed the ball off to Grant Faris.
The Bucks loaded the bases with no outs in the seventh, but Faris managed to pitch out of the jam, striking out Will Johnson for the first out, inducing a run-producing ground ball off the bat of Ian Halvorson and, after walking Slade, struck out Ethan Rossi swinging to escape with a 7-3 Thunder Bay lead.
A 1-2-3 eighth paved the way for more Border Cats offence in the bottom of the inning. An error on a Jeremy Sheffield grounder made it 8-3 and Bach’s long fly ball to centre scored Sheffield from third. Faris allowed one run in the ninth and picked up the three-inning save.
The win pulled the Cats (14-10) to within 3.5 games of first in the division, shared by Waterloo and La Crosse, at 18-7.
The Cats and Bucks play again on Friday.
