THUNDER BAY – Nicholas Fazzari really has nothing to lose.
Brought on earlier this week as a temporary fill-in catcher while the Thunder Bay Border Cats regulars continue to trickle into town, the 19-year-old Lakehead University student got the chance Wednesday night to make his Northwoods League debut.
He made the most of it, tripling off the wall in right-centre to lead off the seventh, crossing the plate two batters later on Nate Soriano’s RBI groundout.
Unfortunately for Fazzari, his success was too little, too late for the Border Cats, who dropped a second straight contest to start the 2019 season, falling 10-4 to the Duluth Huskies (2-0) in front of 703 fans at Port Arthur Stadium.
The loss aside, Fazzari, who plans to attend Parkland College in the fall, said it felt great to get the call to enter the game and then be able to contribute to an offence that had struggled to that point, collecting just two hits through six innings.
“I was just sitting in the bullpen waiting to catch my teammates when I got the call on the walkie-talkie saying … you’re coming into hit,” he said.
“I was like, ‘Really?’ So I came in and obviously the adrenaline was pumping and all sorts of thing. My family is here, so I just got in the box and said, ‘Let’s do this.’ It was coming in pretty hot and then I took a nice crack with the bat.”
Fazzari, who appeared to be dead to rights sliding into third, managed to knock the ball loose as he hit the bag.
Manager Eric Vasquez said he had a hunch and it paid off.
“He came in, and isn’t that the cool mentality to have, just to come in and not worry about anything and swing the bat,” Vasquez said. “I’m going to try this weekend and maybe DH him. It’s hard when you have both your catchers in there, but I’m going to roll the dice.”
The Cats pitching staff, who dug themselves a 5-0 hole after three innings, were hit hard early.
Preston Hartsell, who drove in three in Tuesday’s opener, singled home Carter Putz, whose one-out triple had earlier scored Lance Ford from first.
Leadoff hitter Noah Marcelo doubled home two more in the second off Thunder Bay starter Lucas Reid, who took the loss after giving up four runs on four hits and a walk over two innings, Vasquez choosing once again to limit his staff to no more than two innings apiece.
The Cats finally got on the board in the fourth, Thomas Grilling singling in Alexander Hernandez, who drew a two-out walk and took second on a wild pitch by Duluth starter Austin Smith.
Smith left after the inning, replaced by Evan Yedinak, who would be credited with the win, tossing three innings of one-hit, one-run ball.
Thunder Bay’s other local, right-fielder Bryce Jorgenson, also contributed to the Cats offensive output in the eighth, singling to score Jake Engel and scoring on a Ryne Edmonson hit off closer Owen Meaney.
Joey Hect, Tanner Bercier, lefty specialist Mark Anderson, Austin Breazle and Aaron Kern also hit the mound for the Border Cats, the latter showing enough in a two-strikeout ninth to impress his new manager.
“I said, ‘Hey, you’re going to be our closer full time,’ and he said, ‘Yeah, I love it,’” Vasquez said.
The Border Cats hit the road for a pair against Rochester before returning home Saturday to start a six-game home-stand against the Mankato MoonDogs.
