ROCHESTER, Minn. – A nine-run seventh was a difference-maker for the Thunder Bay Border Cats.
Trailing 7-4 to the Rochester Honkers on Saturday night, after giving up four runs in the bottom of the sixth, the Border Cats rallied late to win their fourth in a row, downing their opponent 15-7 to keep pace with the front-running La Crosse Loggers.
Kael Babin, Greg LaChance and Lucas Johnson reached, Babin and Johnson plunked by Malachi Bosschart, loading the bases with one out.
Jaren Ekkelboom took over on the mound for the Honkers, but not do the job he was asked to perform, allowing back-to-back-to-back singles to Manny Albero, Hayden Sheffield and Jeremy Sheffield, leading to five Thunder Bay runs and a 9-7 lead.
Then, with two outs, the Cats continued their hard-hitting ways, tacking on four more runs.
Ty Hamilton was hit, Babin singled to score Stringfellow and Sheffield, followed by RBI singles off the bats of LaChance and Jordan Bach.
Ekkelboom was tagged for six runs, retiring two batters, while giving up six hits.
Thunder Bay jumped on Rochester starter Jacob Tostado, scoring once in the first and three more times in the second, LaChance delivering the key blow, a two-run single that scored Babin and newcomer Duncan Key, who got the start behind the plate.
However, Thunder Bay starter William Spang found trouble in the second.
After facing just four batters in the first, he needed 35 pitches to get out of the second, wild pitches scoring Brandon Contreras and Drew Charney to cut Thunder Bay’s lead to 4-3, ending Spang’s night after he reached the Northwoods League maximum pitch count for a given inning.
The score stayed that way until the sixth.
The Honkers loaded the bases and Parker Burgess, brought in with one out and two aboard, wasn’t able to hold Rochester’s hitters at bay.
Burgess, who took over from Ethan Froud, gave up a single to Allan Camarillo that loaded the bases, then issued a walk to Maddox Haley. Drew Charney scored on a wild pitch and then Payton Knowles singled home two runs to give the Honkers a 7-4 lead.
Burgess finished strong, inducing a 6-4-3 double play to end the threat and limit the damage. Burgess allowed a single in the eighth, but Charney couldn’t advance beyond first before the side was retired.
LaChance finished 4-for-4 with three runs scored and four driven in, also drawing a walk. Babin, Alberto and Sheffield each drove in a pair.
Thunder Bay loaded the bases in the ninth. Key scored on a passed ball and LaChance drove in his fourth of the night with his fourth hit of the game to wrap up the scoring.
Burgess pitched the final four innings to earn the save, allowing two runs on four hits.
Thunder Bay improved to 16-10 and remained 3.5 games behind the hot-hitting La Crosse Loggers (20-7), who outgunned the Willmar Stingers 26-1 on Saturday, the second time in a week they scored 25 or more runs in an inning. Both teams have nine games to go in the first half, which wraps up on June 30. The Cats did gain a game on second-place Waterloo, who dropped a third straight game to slip to 18-9, leaving Thunder Bay two games behind the Bucks.
Thunder Bay’s next home game is Friday night against Mankato.
