THUNDER BAY – The return of a pair of familiar faces worked wonders for the Thunder Bay Border Cats on Tuesday night.
Outfielder Ty Hamilton went 2-for-4 at the plate, walked once, scored once, stole a pair of bases and drove in two, keying a five-run first inning that set the stage for Thunder Bay’s 9-4 win over their cross-border rival, the Duluth Huskies (2-7).
Second baseman Greg LeChance, a teammate of Hamilton’s on last year’s Border Cats squad, was 1-for-2 with three walks, a stolen base and two RBI in his return, in front of 621 fans at Port Arthur Stadium.
Hamilton, who said he’s thrilled to be back in Thunder Bay, said getting to Duluth starter Danny Hesse in the first was key to the team’s success.
Hesse (L, 0-2) was ineffective in his one inning of work, allowing five runs on three hits and three walks, and had to exit the game after a single turn on the mound because he exceeded the Northwoods League limit of 35 pitches in an inning.
“Anytime you can get to the bullpen early, it’s awesome. It kills them for the rest of the series; it puts us in a really good position to succeed moving forward. Putting up five in the first was awesome. And for me, personally, getting a hit and getting hot early takes the pressure off and makes me able to play fun, play easy,” said Hamilton, who hit out of the No. 9 hole in his first game back.
The early success made the rest of the night a lot easier, despite the fact the Cats walked 11 Huskies batters, putting pressure on the defence to come through, which it did with a pair of double plays that got them out of jams in the fourth and sixth innings.
They also rode three innings of sparkling pitching from starter John McDonald, who didn’t allow a run, giving up just two hits while striking out four, bouncing back after a pair of subpar performances to start the season.
“You put up five runs early it takes the pressure off the pitcher. John did a great job in the top of the first, which sets the table for the offence, but at the same time, his ability to be able to relax and just throw strikes and potentially give up a run or two and be OK is a great thing as a pitcher,” said manager Joe Ellison.
The Border Cats (4-4) batted around in the first and sent seven men to the plate in the second, with former Thunder Bay pitcher Matt Juza on the mound in relief.
Manny Alberto made it 6-0 with an RBI single and LaChance walked with the bases loaded to force in the Cats seventh run.
Juza settled down, tossing five innings of relief, and didn’t allow another run.
William Spang (W, 1-0) took over pitching for Thunder Bay in the fourth and allowed the first four batters to reach before inducing a 6-4-3 double play off the bat of shortstop Zan Von Schlegall and the Cats took a 7-2 lead into the fifth.
Duluth got another run in the seventh, with Parker Burgess on the mound, Noah Furcht doubling home Michael Smith to cut the lead to four.
Hamilton and the Border Cats used a little small ball to add two more to their total in the bottom of the seventh. Hamilton legged out an infield single, then stole second, third and home, on a double steal with Kael Babin. Babin would later score on back-to-back wild pitches.
Duluth’s Reagan Reeder closed out the scoring with an RBI double in the ninth, Cameron Johnson on to mop things up in relief for Thunder Bay.
The two teams will play a matinee game on Wednesday. Game time is 11:05 a.m. Makaio Cisneros is expected to get the start for Thunder Bay.
