DULUTH – You can’t keep a good team down for long.
A night after having their five-game winning streak snapped at home against the Duluth Huskies, the Cats made the trip south of the border and rode a seven-inning gem by Thunder Bay’s Jack Pineau to a 9-1 win over the Huskies at Wade Stadium.
Pineau (1-0) gave up four hits and one run, striking out eight and lowered his ERA to 2.31 in two Northwoods League stars.
The Cats bats jumped on Jakob Schulz in the first, scoring twice, more than enough offence in a game that saw them hold the Huskies to a single run.
Newcomer Kyle Morrison, who takes over third from the now-departed Logan McIntyre, had two hits in five trips to the plate in his Border Cats debut, driving in three with a pair of singles.
Cole Ketzner, coming off a grand slam in Thursday’s opening game of a twi-night doubleheader against Duluth, also drove in three for Thunder Bay, collecting two hits, including a double, in three at bats. He also walked twice and is now hitting .429 on the season.
Schultz, who took the loss, departed after one inning, giving up two runs on four hits and a walk.
Miguel Villafane, Benito Valle-Jhanda and Myles Standish each tossed multiple relief innings for Duluth, the team’s record slipping to 6-5. That’s three games back of first-place Thunder Bay, who improved to 9-2, good for a two-game lead over La Crosse in the Great Plains East Division. The Loggers edge Green Bay 1-0 on Friday night.
Caleb Bunch is expected to get the start on Saturday when the two teams meet again.
The Cats and Huskies will then return to Port Arthur Stadium on Sunday for the first of two games in Thunder Bay.
PWHL champion Michela Cava is expected to throw out the first pitch prior to Sunday’s contest.
