Opening Day win for Cats

Experience counts in the Northwoods League.

That, a slow-rolling infield, some great defence and a fantastic pitching performance will win a lot of ballgames. The Thunder Bay Border Cats got all three on Opening Night on Wednesday, riding right-hander Garrett Yount’s six-inning, two-hit gem to a 1-0 win over the visiting Duluth Huskies.

It took them seven games to record their first win in 2009.

Yount (1-0), who gave up a leadoff double to open the contest, and faced runners on second and third with two outs in the second, settled in nicely after that, retiring 14 of the final 15 batters he faced to get the Cats off to a winning start.

“It was a very good way to start out the year. That’s what we wanted to come out to do. For the first time we played as a team we played really well together. We had great defence behind us, me and the bullpen, which was absolutely huge,” said Yount, who went 2-2 for the Cats in 2009 in seven starts and 15 appearances.

“That’s what we wanted to do on opening night, get the fans a win.”

There were 1,005 of them in attendance, and while they weren’t treated to an offensive explosion, most went home happy.

Centrefielder Tyler Pryor, who scored the game’s only run, leading off the first with a walk and coming home on Evan Mistich’s grounder to short after stealing second and taking third on a wild pitch, echoed Yount, saying the defence came up strong all night long.

“That definitely won us the game tonight. It’s tough getting used to an infield in the first game like this. It really helps with the confidence and everything for everyone,” said Prior, who was 1-for-3 in his Northwoods League debut.

The hits were few and far between on both sides.

Duluth starter Frank Dejiulio (0-1) only allowed three hits in five innings of work, singles to Cats rookie Ken Battiston in the second, returning speedster Garrett Houts on a tough infield roller in the third and a two-out flare by Houts in the fifth.

The only trouble the Cats really found themselves in after the second was in the eighth. Reliever Brad Delatte, who spelled Yount with one out in the seventh, retired the first two batters he faced in short order.

The Louisiana native walked Tyler Erickson and Ben Hughes, the No. 8 and 9 hitters in the Huskies lineup, to start the eighth.

After Pete Cappetta struck out looking, Mistich handled a soft liner by Jeff Reynolds at second, taking it on one hop to force Hughes at second. Catcher Tyler Albright followed with a sharp liner that made a beeline for Mistich’s glove, ending the threat.

Second-year veteran Drew Erwin took over in the ninth, inducing a liner and two grounders to short to pick up his first save of the year, the sixth of his two-year Border Cats career.

It also gave Mike Steed his first Northwoods League win as a manager.

“I couldn’t be happier,” said the Burlington, Ont. native. “It’s exciting. The atmosphere was great. We’ll come back and we’ll go through the same approach tomorrow.”

The Cats and Huskies will tee it up again on Thursday. Game time is 6:35 p.m.

Cat tracks: Olympic gold medalist Haley Irwin threw out the ceremonial first pitch before the game ... In other NWL action, Brainerd Lakes blanked Alexandria 4-0, Waterloo beat Wisconsin Rapids 3-1, Mankato beat Rochester 1-0, Lacrosse shut out Eau Claire 4-0, Madison beat Wisconsin 8-1 and Green Bay whitewashed Battle Creek 7-0.