Cats strand nine runners in loss to Beetles

A few days off might be just the tonic the Border Cats need to turn their woeful start to the second half around.

A lesson in getting the bat off their shoulders might be a good place to start as they head into the annual Northwoods League all-star break.

The Cats (3-7) stranded nine runners Sunday night at Port Arthur Stadium, their batters gunned down looking in several key situations throughout the 4-2 loss to the Alexandria Beetles (7-3), their fifth defeat in six games.

It’s not acceptable at this level, said Cats manager Mike Steed, as frustrated as anyone with the team’s inability to regularly come through in the clutch.

“That’s the one point we addressed today. We left nine guys on base. We had the bases loaded a couple of times in the game there. I think we struck out looking four or five times there, and in key situations with the bases loaded. That was the difference in the ballgame,” Steed said.

Designated hitter Jeff Deblieux, who was 2-for-4 in the lead-off spot, said the hitters have no one to blame but themselves.

“We left a lot of people on base and we’ve got to execute in those situations,” the Houma, La. native said, attempting a partial explanation.“Late in the ballgame like that you want to take some pitches, to try to make the pitcher make a mistake.”

The sixth inning was the turning point in this one.

With the game tied 2-2, 3B Ryan Court singled to start the inning, and moved to second when Tanner Nivins was hit by a pitch. The Cats finally caught a break when Kenny Battiston attempted to lay down a sacrifice, only to beat it out and load the bases with no outs.

Then disaster struck.

P.K. Kitamura grounded into a fielder’s choice that nailed Court at the plate, and reliever Eric Shannahan (W, 1-3) caught Taylor Honeycutt and Garrett Houts, the No. 8 and 9 hitters in the Border Cats lineup, looking to end the threat.

Steed, who left starter Corey Pappel (L, 2-3) in to pitch the sixth, despite a 21-minute rain delay after he shut the Beetles down in the fifth, was burned in the seventh when he stuck with the hurler an inning too long.

Matt Lowenstein walked to start the inning, and with one out he moved to second on a catcher’s interference call levied on Honeycutt that sent Will Miller to first.

With Zak Miller warmed and ready in the bullpen, Steed stuck with Pappel and paid for his faith. Pinch hitter Tim Roberson singled to left. Steed got into a heated battle with the umpiring crew, arguing the ball hit Miller on his way to second, but to no avail and Alexandria took a 3-2 lead.

Steed said a shortened bullpen – Zach Smith has been shut down for the season and Paul Barton is injured – was partially the reason for sticking with Pappel.

“We talked about it. He wanted the baseball and I judge off a pitcher’s character. He asked for the ball and we gave him that opportunity. And it backfired. They got a base hit to the right side. But we extended our bullpen a lot and we were short,” Steed said, defending his decision, even though with three days off he could have dipped into his rotation and pulled a starter into emergency bullpen duty.

Alexandria added insurance in the eighth.

Marcus Semien drew a lead-off walk, though with one out it looked like Zak Miller had gotten out of trouble, inducing Taylor Davis to hit ground ball to SS Brett Doe. But Doe, turning the double play in his mind, bobbled the ball and Semien went to third on what was ruled an infield hit.

Lowenstein finished it, launching a sacrifice fly that gave the Beetles a two-run lead.

It was a game the Cats had control of in the early going.

Thunder Bay roughed up starter Kolby Wood in the third, forcing him from the game with 35 pitches, a five more than the league maximum.

Deblieux and Sean Miller-Jones did the damage, each driving in a run.

But in the top of the fifth the Beetles got to Pappel. Davis scored on a Chad Bunting double, while Lowenstein, who reached on a double error by Miller-Jones at short, crossed the plate on a Pappel wild pitch to tie the score.

The Cats embark on a season-long 12-game road trip following the all-star break, as Port Arthur Stadium will be taken over by the World Junior Baseball Championship.

Deblieux admitted it won’t be an easy way to rebound, but he’s convinced the team can handle the pressure.

“We can do it. Being on the road that long is tough, no matter what, but we just have to come out and play baseball like we know we can,” he said.

Cat tracks: With Barton and Zach Smith on the sidelines, the Cats have added a pair of hurlers. Right-hander Will Krasne spent the past season at Florida’s Rollins College, where he was 3-0 with a 5.00 ERA pitching alongside fellow Border Cats Garrett Yount and Matt White. Also joining the club is Christian Dekker, who started 2009 with the Cats, but was sent home because of an injury. Dekker was 0-2 with a 7.36 ERA last summer in seven games with Thunder Bay ... Starter Eric Brown, one of six Cats selected to the Northwoods League North Division all-star team, will leave the team for a couple of weeks on Wednesday to play for Canada at the World University Games in Japan.