THUNDER BAY – It might have been ugly, but when a team’s on a 10-game losing streak, a win’s a win.
The Thunder Bay Border Cats on Friday night survived an early 6-1 deficit and four errors in the field, rallying to score a 13-11 triumph over the visiting Eau Claire Express, snapping the Northwoods League team’s latest slide.
The Express committed six errors of their own in going down to defeat, a four-run fifth putting the Cats in front for good.
Canadian Owen Steele, making his debut for Thunder Bay, was hit hard early, giving up eight hits and six runs over four innings of work as the Express batted around in the second. Mitchell Buban had a two-run single and he later came in on a Billy Cook error.
A second error, by left-fielder Cam Pearcey, cost the Cats another run, following a Noah Sifrit single.
But the Cats had a quick response, scoring five runs in the bottom of the second to tie the game 6-6 and chase starter Andrew Dean.
Callen Schwabe singled in the inning’s first run, the second scoring when Billy Cook reached on a fielder’s choice.
Schwabe scored on an Express miscue and Cook crossed the plate when Dylan Caplinger drew a bases-loaded walk. The final run of the frame occurred on a wild pitch, Willie Bourbon dashing home from third with the game-tying score.
Eau Claire retook the lead in the fourth, Andrew Pratt and David LaManna coming through with run-scoring singles to give the Express an 8-6 advantage.
The Cats got one back in the fourth on Eau Claire reliever Tyler Strzelczyk and handed him the loss with four in the fifth, a Brandon Trammell two-run triple the key hit of the frame.
The Express and Border Cats scored singles runs in each of the seventh and eighth innings.
The Express threatened to score again in the ninth, but with runners on second and third and one out, David LaManna hit a grounder to third and Sifrit was gunned down trying to score. Reliever Andrew Gross induced a grounder off the bat of Adam LaRock to end the threat and earn his fourth save of 2018.
With the win, the Border Cats improved to 7-21. The Express fell to 12-15.
Thunder Bay hosts Rochester on Saturday night at Port Arthur Stadium. Game time is 6:05 p.m.
