Border Cats sink Blue Anchors with 16-hit attack

The Thunder Bay Border Cats are the top hitting team in the Northwoods League.

And their bats were at it again on Saturday night.

The Cats blasted the visiting Alexandria Blue Anchors 14-1, chasing starter Graylon Brown in the fourth inning after hammering him for 12 hits and nine runs before he got the early hook.

Thunder Bay’s Carter McEachern homered for the Cats, scoring three times and driving in a pair.

First baseman Grant McKown retook the league RBI lead, adding another two to up his total to 14 on the season. McKown, signed as a temporary player, also scored three times.

The Cats (6-5) scored once in each of the first two innings, added two more in the third, five in the fourth and three more in the fifth to take a commanding 12-0 lead in support of starter Yuji Suzuki.

Suzuki pitched into the eighth, giving up seven hits and a single run while evening his record at 1-1.

First baseman Mikael Mogues recorded the final five outs for Thunder Bay, striking out three in the process.

Right-fielder Jared James and left-fielder Alan Baldwin had three-hit nights, while shortstop Matt Batten, who had one hit in his previous three outings, went 4-for-4 with a walk, two runs scored and two RBI.

The sixth-place Border Cats, just 2.5 games out of first in the North Division race, travel to Rochester to take on the top-ranked Rochester Honkers (8-2) on Sunday.