THUNDER BAY – Andy Weber didn’t skip a beat in his return to the Thunder Bay Border Cats.
The star second baseman, making his first start of the season, doubled home a pair of runs in the seventh inning to erase a 2-1 deficit to the visiting Eau Claire Express and the Cats added seven more runs in the eighth following a 37-minute rain delay to claim a 10-5 triumph.
Weber, the lone returnee from last year’s team, picked up where he left off, going 1-for-3 at the dish with a pair of walks, a year after hitting .309 for the Border Cats.
“I wasn’t trying to do too much, I just got a good pitch and tried to do whatever I could to give my team the lead,” said a tired Weber, who took a 1-0 count and drilled it to centre to make a winner out of starter Blaze Bohall, who turned 21 on Saturday.
Manager Mitch Feller had no hesitation to insert Weber in the lineup on Sunday afternoon, despite the fact flight delays meant he didn’t arrive in Thunder Bay until 1:30 a.m. that morning.
In fact, it seems to be a pattern, Feller said, noting that he’s had plenty of early success from newcomers this year.
“Bang, right off the bat they get multiple hits or have the big clutch hit. Noah Strohl did it, Kevin Biondic did it. Now Andy Weber is just in a long line of guys who as soon as they step foot on the field with us they exploit their bat right away, which is awesome,” Feller said.
Biondic was still at it on Sunday, crushing a bases loaded Josh Gaworski eighth-inning offering over the wall in left, the grand slam putting the Cats in front 10-2.
“I was looking for a fastball to hit and get a few extra insurance runs. (Gaworski) kind of just hung one there and got lucky and hit it over the fence,” the third baseman said.
Bohall, who threw seven innings of five-hit ball, found his biggest trouble in the first, walking back-to-back batters to start the game, then hitting Rudy Rott to lead the bases. But he got out of the jam trailing just 2-0.
Bohall also struggled in the second, but a rare 9-4-4 triple play shut the Express down in their tracks. Both Eau Claire base-runners were doubled up after RF Braden Mosley made a spectacular over-the-shoulder catch at the wall.
“I don’t know if I’ll see that repeated,” Feller said. “That got us out of a rough inning.”
Thunder Bay got one back off Express starter Cole Dreger in the bottom of the first, Colton Thomas coming home on a Noah Strohl sacrifice fly, giving the Cats first baseman 17 RBI in 11 games.
Reliever Jesse Bogacz survived the rain delay to record the final out of the eighth, then the Cats bats took over – with a little help from some wonky Express fielding.
Jean-Sebastien Garon started the ball rolling, opening with a single off Gaworski. He wound up scoring an unearned run from third on Dayne Sommer’s sacrifice fly.
Colin Rosenbaum plated two more on an error by shortstop Justin Evans to make it 6-2.
Southpaw Brady Hill struggled with his control in the ninth, the Express rallying for three runs on two hits and three walks.
The Cats (7-13) hit the road on Monday and take on Waterloo.
