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Cats rally again, four-run seventh helps down Duluth 6-5

The comeback kids were at it again on Tuesday night.
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Thunder Bay's Evan Mistich tries to go over the top of Duluth catcher Tyler Albright during the fourth inning of the Cats 6-5 win over the Huskies. (By Leith Dunick, tbnewswatch.com)
The comeback kids were at it again on Tuesday night.

A night after rallying late to beat the Duluth Huskies 6-5 in the second half of a Port Arthur Stadium doubleheader, the Thunder Bay Border Cats scored four times in the seventh inning, all they’d need to win 6-5 again. Garrett Houts, who twice ended innings earlier in the game with runners in scoring position, drilled a key bases loaded, one-out double that ignited the rally. Two batters later he scored the winning run, coming home on P.K. Kitamura’s single.

Houts, a second-year veteran in the Northwoods League, said it was only a matter of time before the Cats  (15-18) strung something together, having gotten the leadoff man aboard for seven straight innings.

“The entire game we just needed one key hit. I came up twice with the runners in scoring position and got out, so it was just a matter of time that any of us got a key hit in the right situation,” said Houts, who was 1-for-3 with a walk on the night.

The Fort Collins, Col. product  inched his way over the .200 mark with his performance, said he needed a night like that to find his way at the plate.

“It felt good. I’ve had a little bit of a slump lately, and it was nice to just come in and do something to help the team,” said Houts, relegated to the No. 9 hole with SS Brett Doe sitting this one out.

Border Cats manager Mike Steed, whose team was eliminated from first-half contention when they lost Monday’s opener, said he’s noticed a change in his players at the plate of late, a welcome sign with just two days left in the first half and a clean slate on the horizon as the second half begins on Friday.

“Things are turning our way. We’re getting the hits through the left side of the infield. I think (catcher) Will Thorp had three hits that were three-hoppers through the left side of the infield tonight. But they’re all base hits and they kept the inning alive,” Steed said.

Steed said the key was getting to Duluth starter Frank De Jiulio early. The Cats sent six men to the plate, and even though they only scored one run when Kenny Battiston drove home Tanner Nivins to give the host Thunder Bay a 2-0 lead, they forced De Jiulio from the game due to a 30-pitch per inning limit.

Anders Engberg came on in relief and was in trouble in the fourth with runners on the corners and one out and the fifth when Tyler Wosleger reached third with one out. But Thunder Bay came up empty both times.

Meanwhile the Huskies offense found its form.

Duluth evened the score when Tyler Erickson smashed a double to the left-centre wall off Cats starter Zach Smith, and went up three in the fifth, the killer blow a two-run shot to right off the bat of Phillip Menou.

But the Huskies stuck with Engberg (1-2) an inning too long. Six of the seven batters he faced in the seventh reached, and by the time he was yanked in favour of Jacob Bax, the damage was done.

Zak Miller (6-1), who leads the Northwoods League with six wins out of the bullpen, pitched three strong innings of no-hit ball to pick up the win, his sixth. Matt White took over in the ninth, earning his first save, filling in for normal closer Drew Erwin who was forced to sit down by league rules that forbid a pitcher from hitting the mound more than two nights in a row.

“(Miller) is our No. 1 guy out of the pen early. He does have six wins, but he’s done his job to come in and get those wins. You can call it what you like about stealing wins, but he threw three pretty solid innings tonight and that’s what we need all year,” Steed said.

Claw marks: Mistich was nailed at the plate trying to score on a NIvins single. He also stole a pair of bases to take over the team lead from Houts with six ... The crowd was 778 ... With two days left in the first half, Rochester and St. Cloud each have 18 wins. But St. Cloud has played three more games, all of them losses. Expansion Willmar is at 18-15, half a game behind St. Cloud ... Mistich is sixth in the league with 23 RBI ... The Cats have a league-low .220 batting average ... Thunder Bay wraps up first half play Wednesday and Thursday in Brainerd.



Leith Dunick

About the Author: Leith Dunick

A proud Nova Scotian who has called Thunder Bay home since 2002, Leith is Dougall Media's director of news, but still likes to tell your stories too. Wants his Expos back and to see Neil Young at least one more time. Twitter: @LeithDunick
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