Tyler Duplantis is threatening to go where no Thunder Bay Border Cats player has gone before.
On Friday night the shaggy-haired first baseman tied Dan Soukup’s 10-year-old mark, bashing his eighth homerun of the season – a grand slam no less.
On Saturday Duplantis drove in a pair of runs, his 41st and 42nd of the season, leaving him three shy of the team mark, held jointly by Soukup and Matt Mangini, one of two Cats to date to make it to the major leagues.
Duplantis, a junior at Louisiana's Nicholls State University, is well aware he’s standing at the threshold of Border Cats history, but isn’t putting too much stock in entering his name into the team record book.
“It’s a big deal, but not a goal that I think I set at the beginning of the summer. But now that it’s reachable, I’d definitely like to that,” said Duplantis, moments after helping the Cats snap their latest three-game slide, just their second win in 11 outings, with a 7-1 win over the visiting Duluth Huskies at Subway Field.
“It’s an honour because of what guys have come before us,” said the second-year Duplantis, whose .416 on-base percentage is second on the team only to Tyler Duplantis’ .438.
Both of Duplantis’ RBI came on doubles, the first a deep shot to right in the fifth that plated Dylan Becker for a 5-0 lead.
The second was a near carbon copy, only this time to the gap in right-centre, that scored Stetson with Thunder Bay’s seventh and final run.
It was all in support of starter Chris Kerwood (4-4), who went seven strong, allowing just one run on four hits.
Duplantis, who isn’t ruling out a shot at the professional game, said that’s just what a struggling team like the Cats, who have surrendered 10 or more runs 15 times in this forgettable season, needed.
“Hats off to the pitchers today; they showed up. It was great to get a big team win today. There were a lot of guys who had a lot of production. Ty (Stetson) was on base a lot, (Dylan) Becker had a few big hits and Kerwood had a great start. We’ve got to keep it rolling now,” said Duplantis, his Border Cats mired in sixth place in the second half standings in the Northwoods League’s North Division with a 5-16 record.
The Cats earned the win at the expense of all-star starter Clay Chapman, who had only allowed 34 hits in 54 innings heading into Saturday’s contest.
Thunder Bay’s hitters chased Chapman after five, having given up six hits and five runs – four earned – dropping his record to 2-4 on the season.
The first two came in on a third-inning wild pitch and a Becker ground out, the first of three RBI he managed in the game.
Duluth finally got on the board against Kerwood in the sixth, a Keith Curcio single making it 5-1 at the time.
They added runs in the eighth and ninth off Cats reliever Steven Cazares.
Thunder Bay travels to Wisconsin Sunday for a cross-division duel with the 12-9 Woodchucks.
Claw marks: Attendance was 575.
