THUNDER BAY – Ten up, 10 down.
George Hansen got the call from the bullpen with two outs in the sixth, with a runner on third and the Mankato MoonDogs with a run in and threatening more.
Hansen, a lefty from Superior, Wisc., wasn’t fazed.
With Collin Jennings at the dish, Hansen delivered a three-pitch strikeout to retire the side and preserve the Thunder Bay Border Cats three-run lead.
He then tossed three straight three-up, three-down innings to save a 6-3 triumph in front of 915 rowdy fans at Port Arthur Stadium.
More importantly, he kept the team’s hopes for a first-half title and a Northwoods League playoff spot alive.
The Cats entered Friday night’s action three games behind the La Crosse Loggers, two behind the Waterloo Bucks, and a half-game behind the Duluth Huskies.
All three teams lost on Friday night, inching Thunder Bay ahead of the Huskies and to within two of the division lead, the Border Cats still needing to win out and have La Crosse lose their remaining three games to claim the crown.
Hansen and his teammates know the job with which they’ve been tasked.
And while achieving it isn’t entirely in their own hands at this point, they have to take care of business and let the rest play out, Hansen said.
“A lot of things have to go right. We’ve got to worry about us and keep winning,” Hansen said, adding they might be peeking a bit at the out-of-town scoreboard.
“Kind of, but we’ve got to worry about ourselves as much as we can. I think we all know what’s going on and what’s on the line here.”
Jordan Bach, who was 2-for-2 with a walk and a hit by pitch, driving in a run, said it’s a one-game-at-a-time mentality at this point.
“It would be nice to win out and give ourselves a shot. We’re just looking forward to tomorrow and just trying to win tomorrow.”
Bach, the league’s leading hitter, at .448, said Hansen has been superb of late, not allowing a run in three straight appearances.
They’ve come to expect it out of their 6-foot-3 bullpen specialist.
“George has been phenomenal for us this year. He just goes out there, gets out, throws strikes. You come to expect it from him. He’s just been nails for us all year.”
Hansen helped settle things down on the mound after starter William Spang and his replacement, Jackson Irwin, combined to walk 10 Mankato batters.
Irwin got out of a bases loaded jam in the third, needing one pitch to retire the side on a Tony Lira 4-6-3 double play. Earlier in the inning left-fielder Lucas Johnson gunned down Anthony Avalos trying to score from second on a Cannon Pery single.
Irwin induced another bases loaded double play to end the fifth, this time with Jace Estes at the plate.
The Border Cats batters, meanwhile, kept plodding away, taking advantage of Mankato mistakes to score twice in the first, third and fifth innings.
Johnson singled in the game’s first run off MoonDogs starter Audgen Hallmark and Bach scored on a passed ball to make it 2-0 after one.
Camden Tanner scored on an error and Bach scampered home on a wild pitch to give Thunder Bay a 4-1 lead after three.
After Mankato closed the gap to two in the top of the fifth, the Border Cats stretched their lead to five. An error and a hit by pitch left runners on the corners with one out. Alberto doubled to score one and Correy Morrow drew a bases loaded walk that ended reliever Alex Thomas’s night.
Adrian Beltre Jr., son of hall of famer Adrian Beltre, pitched the eighth for the MoondDogs, walking one before retiring the side.
The Cats (19-12) and MoonDogs (13-18) play again on Saturday. Game time is 6:35 p.m.
