DULUTH – The Border Cats battled back from seven runs down, but in the end couldn’t hold off the Duluth Huskies.
Trailing 7-0 after three innings, the Border Cats scored five in the fifth and by the eighth inning had tied the Northwoods League contest 8-8.
But it all feel apart for the visitors in the bottom of the eighth, when the Huskies (4-3) erupted for four more runs, keyed by a two-run Calyn Halvorson double that led Duluth to a 12-8 victory to end Thunder Bay’s modest two-game winning streak.
Logan Johnstone was 3-for-5 with a run and Daylan Pena was 2-for-5 with a double and two RBI to pace the Border Cats offence, held scoreless by Duluth starter David Thomas through four innings, though they chased him in the fifth, having given up five runs on eight hits and five walks.
Karson Shepherd started for Thunder Bay (2-5) and didn’t escape the third, victimized for seven runs on seven hits and six walks, raising his ERA to 10.29 on the season.
Thunder Bay’s Will Droll kept the Cats in the contest with 3.1 innings of solid, shutout relief, but Griffin Cato and Cole Poirrier couldn’t hold down the fort in the seventh and eighth, leading to the Cats demise.
Thunder Bay has three more on the road before returning home on Saturday to host the Mankato Moondogs.
