Cats fall 5-2

The kids were chanting along to Justin Bieber in the stands, but the Thunder Bay Border Cats were left singing the matinee blues.

A five-hit, two-walk, four-run third inning, all off Cats starter Taylor Bratton, proved to be the team’s downfall Friday at Port Arthur Stadium, as Thunder Bay dropped its third straight Northwoods League contest, a 5-2 decision at the hands of the St. Cloud River Bats.

Manager Mike Steed said the Cats (9-14) simply can’t afford to endure disastrous innings like that, and have to find a way to avoid them to get back into pennant contention.

“I think right now we’ve got to be able to make the routine play. That’s what gets us in trouble. We botch a double-play ball or we’re out of position, we don’t cover to the bag or we miss first base,” said Steed, referring to a third-inning grounder that should have gotten the Cats out of the inning, but instead starter Taylor Bratton didn’t touch first, the runner was safe and the onslaught continued.

“That led to an extra run. Then again, it’s the mindset. The closer we are on the scoreboard, the easier it is to fight back. We have the offensive capability to do it. We do. But we put ourselves in situations where mentally we take ourselves out of it.”

Clutch hitting would also be a nice sight to see from time to time, he added.

Six times the Cats put the lead runner on base, but only once, when Ino Patron doubled to lead off the seventh off victorious St. Cloud southpaw Matt Iannazzo (1-0), did the runner come around to score.

“We talked about that a little after the game,” said Patron, who finished 3-for-4 with a stolen base, raising his season average to .222.

“We had 12 hits up there but we only had two runs. Mostly we just need to have timely hitting instead of hitting with no guys on. We just need to work on focusing more with runners in scoring position and getting those timely hits. Like I said, it’s early in the season. We’re working on it and we’re going to figure it out.”

The Border Cats, who played this one in front of a rowdy, festive 1,139 fans – mostly students from Lakehead Public Schools, but their largest crowd of 2011 nonetheless – lost for the fourth time this year against St. Cloud, a team that has just eight wins in 21 outings in 2011.

The Bats just seem to have the Cats number this season, said Steed. He's not sure why.

“They’re not a bad team, but they’re not the upper echelon,” Steed said. “In my mind, I think we have, player for player, enough talent to beat a team like St. Cloud.”

Tied 1-1, C.J. Gillman started things off innocently enough for the River Bats in the third, singling to lead off the inning. An out later, having moved to second on Carlos Lopez’s grounder, Gillman scored from second on Bryan Haar’s single, his second of three hits on the afternoon.

Jeremy Banks singled and both runners were plated when Bryan Peters launched a double to left over the head of Patron’s head.

Connor Eppard walked, both runners advanced on a double steal, then J.R. Reynolds walked to load the bases.

The Cats caught a break when Kyle Stiner’s grounder hit Eppard, resulting in an automatic out and a dead ball. But Bratton ended his own afternoon, when on a routine grounder by Andy Henkemeyer he failed to step on the bag, the error scoring the fifth St. Cloud run.

Alec Smith came on to retire the final out of the inning, then held St. Cloud in check into the seventh, giving the Cats a chance to mount a comeback.

Thunder Bay’s first two batters reached in their half of the third, but Weibel grounded into a 1-6-3 double play to end the threat. In the fifth Mike Hubbard and Cullen Mahoney were at first and second with one out, but this time it was Alex Guthrie who hit into the inning-ending play.

The Cats did manage to plate one in the seventh.

Patron lined a shot to centre that turned into a two-bagger, then promptly stole third and landed home on Mike Hubbard’s opposite-field blooper.

But the rally fizzled when lead-off hitter Brett Kay, who reached on a fielder’s choice, was caught stealing on a pickoff play and Mahoney struck out to end the frame.

Patron reached third with none out in the ninth, but St. Cloud closer Alex Caravella set Mike Hubbard, Brett Kay and Mahoney down on strikes to finish off the Cats.