THUNDER BAY – When your starting pitcher only lasts a single inning, the bullpen better bring it’s ‘A’ game to the mound.
Jimmy Cerha did that and more on Saturday night.
Cerha, who had been roughed up his previous three outings, was brilliant in a must-win contest, the Border Cats chasing down first-place La Crosse with time running out in the Northwoods League’s first half.
The Chagrin Falls, Ohio native tossed five straight shutout innings, then gave up a single run in the seventh inning, leading the Border Cats to a come-from-behind 13-6 win over the visiting Mankato MoonDogs.
The 19-year-old Cerha was forced into action after starter Ethan Froud crashed out after the opening inning, allowing three runs on three hits and three walks, falling victim to the Northwoods League 35-pitch limit in a given inning.
“You always come in with yourself ready. Getting ahead in the game is really important, especially if all your pitches are fastballs … especially with a tight zone there; just showing the ump you can locate all your pitches is really important too,” Cerha said.
No lead is safe against the Border Cats, the top-hitting team in the league, and they jumped all over Mankato starter Caleb Koskie, the son of former major leaguer Corey Koskie, in the first. Greg LaChance launched his second homer of the season over the wall in left and Jordan Bach, who entered play hitting a gaudy .448, scored on a Manny Alberto sacrifice fly, cutting the MoonDogs lead to 3-2.
“That set the tone for us and from there it was use that to go, go go,” Alberto said of his teammate’s home run.
“It just went from there.”
While Cerha was shutting down the Mankato hitters frame after frame, the southpaw Koskie met his match in the fourth, when the Cats sent 11 hitters to the plate, exploding for six runs to take an 8-3 lead.
Bach was hit with the bases loaded to score Thunder Bay’s first run of the inning and it went downhill from there. Lucas Johnson walked in another run, with Koskie giving way to Nic Peterson on the mound.
Alberto singled home a pair and Trey Fikes and Jeremy Sheffield followed with RBI singles of their own.
Thunder Bay added two more in the fifth to hit double digits for the 10th time in 32 games this season, thanks to a two-run single off the bat of Burlington, Ont.’s Lucas Johnson.
“We had a great night of hitting, a great night of defence. It’s very important to have all of those,” Cerha said.
Thunder Bay entered play two games behind La Crosse (21-11), needing to win its remaining three games, combined with three Loggers losses, to have a shot at the division.
The Cats got the job done, Cerha said.
“We’re feeling great. We’re feeling optimistic, always being in the moment.”
The Loggers scored six in the seventh inning to jump in front of Willmar 8-2, but the runs were wiped out by rain, the game ultimately called a 2-2 tie. The tie will be added to La Crosse's winning percentage, but both Thunder Bay and Waterloo are still alive in the hunt for a first-half title.
The MoonDogs threatened in the eighth, Grant Faris walking two and hitting one to load the bases with one out. Cannon Peery clocked a two-run double that closed the gap to 10-6, but Parker Burgess came on and got Tony Lira to ground out to third, ending the threat.
For good measure the Border Cats added three more in their half of the eighth, Sheffield doubling home one run and scoring on Kael Babin’s sacrifice fly.
Burgess allowed a lead-off hit to start the ninth, but a double play erased the threat and one hit later, the game ended on a ground out to the mound.
The Cats and Bucks play at 5:05 p.m. on Sunday at Port Arthur Stadium.
