THUNDER BAY – Ashton Long and the Thunder Bay Border Cats played the spoiler role to perfection on Thursday night.
Long, who joined the Northwoods League club late in the season, homered and drove in four runs with a 2-for-5 performance, helping the Border Cats end a four-game losing streak with an 8-6 win over the visiting Eau Claire Express in front of 957 fans at Port Arthur Stadium.
The third baseman, who plays at Minnesota’s Crown College, said he's been on cloud nine for the past week or so.
“It’s been a dream to play in the Northwoods my whole life. So that’s a pretty surreal moment, to finally be able to hit a home run in the Northwoods, with (three) games remaining,” Long said.
It may be too little too late for the playoffs, but it’s a great chance for the players who do still remain to have some fun and play a little ball. And if that means keeping the opposition from making the playoffs, so be it.
“It was a huge win to get the guys back going again,” Long said. “We went into a little slump there, but I think after tonight, the guys are going to start rolling again and we’re going to start picking up the wins again.”
The Cats got a good foundation in this one, thanks to three innings of one-hit, seven-strikeout shutout ball from right-hander Parker Burgess, on a strict pitch count set by the University of Illinois.
Things felt great on the mound, the Douro-Dummer, Ont. native said.
“I had three pitches working tonight. I was able to land my curveball early in counts and stay ahead and put guys away.”
Getting some run support never hurts, he added.
“It’s always nice to pitch with the lead, go out there relaxed and just focus on the task at hand, getting guys out and getting ahead in counts.”
The Cats jumped out in front 4-0 in the second inning, chasing Eau Claire starter Nick Fitzanko (L, 1-2) in the process, a victim of the league’s 35-pitch single-inning maximum.
Nathanael Frederking had the big hit, singling to right to plate Terrence Moody and Thomas Cooper, putting Thunder Bay in front by three at the time.
Long homered on the third pitch delivered by reliever Henry Wilkinson to lead off the fourth, upping the Border Cats lead to 5-0.
Eau Claire, who came into play a game ahead of Duluth, battled back in the fifth. Jake Busson’s infield single managed to bring home two Express runs and he’d later score on a Brady Blake groundout, cutting Thunder Bay’s lead to 5-3.
Reliever Trent Jordan (W, 2-1), charged with all three runs, settled in from there, not allowing another runner to cross home plate in three subsequent innings.
Meanwhile the Thunder Bay bats got back to work in the seventh.
With two on and no outs, Long singled to score both runners and then, with two outs, Thomas Cooper singled to left to score Sam Stem, restoring the Border Cats five-run lead.
Peter Fusek took over on the mound for Thunder Bay in the eighth and was roughed up a bit, but managed to preserve the lead, despite a couple of deep drives by Eau Claire hitters. Jake Busson hit a one-out solo shot and Austin Miller tripled off the wall in left to score Tom Otto. He’d later score on a George Bilecki single.
The Cats (16-16) turned to Kyle Burns to shut down the Express bats in the ninth, and tame them he did, though not before giving up a pair of two-out walks. Tom Otto couldn’t come through in the clutch, grounding out to short to end the frame.
The loss dropped Eau Claire into a tie for first place in the Great Plains East Division with Duluth. Both teams are 19-13.
The two teams meet again on Thursday for the final time this season.
