Speed demons

A week away from the ball field had Border Cats newcomer Luke Willis feeling a little antsy.

It showed.

Willis, a Washington, D.C.-area native, spent Wednesday afternoon hitting out of the nine-hole, but the freshly arrived Cats centre-fielder produced like a top-three batter, reaching base all four times he came to the plate.

Three times he rounded third and scored on a day that saw him go 2-for-3 with a single, triple and a walk. He also reached on a third-inning error, helping the Border Cats to a third straight win, an 8-4 matinee triumph over the visiting St. Cloud Rox (5-9).

“It was just good to contribute,” said Willis, a 5-foot-11 freshman with Coastal Carolina University, who hit just .160 in 50 at bats during the school year.

“I didn’t expect to be at the top of the lineup. I just got here last night and was just happy I could play.”

Not bad for a guy who left home at 3 a.m. Tuesday morning, and after being bumped several times from flights in Toronto, arrived at Port Arthur Stadium in time to watch the last half of the Cats 4-3 win.

The Cats (7-8), who have won four of their past five, all at home, and from the little Willis has seen, all signs are pointing to good things going forward.

“It was a team effort win, and I know you probably hear that all the time. But I feel like part of the family already and I don’t even know everyone’s name. Everyone’s rooting for each other and we got some situational hits, some good baserunning – and I contributed to it,” said Willis, whose enthusiasm had to be tempered a bit after his eighth-inning three-bagger.

“Everyone knew he was here tonight,” said Cats manager Andy Judkins. “His jersey was dirty and he likes to play hard. He actually asked if he could steal home late in the game, but we just kind of said you’re fast enough, you’ll score on a ground ball.

“He’s an energetic kid. He likes to be here, wants to be here and that’s what we want.”

He also epitomizes the type of team Judkins is trying to build in Thunder Bay – speed, speed, and oh yeah, more speed.
Judkins said he can’t remember the last time a team hit three triples in one game.

“The ball doesn’t even get to the fence here and (Justin) Higley is on third,” Judkins said, recalling his right-fielders sixth-inning triple that drove home Brett Kay from first, the second of two runs the sophomore Border Cats shortstop managed on the day.

“And he makes it look easy. He takes like five strides and he’s from first to third. The same thing with Brett and Omar (Cotto) and (Payden) Cawley Lamb and Willis and Phillip Lyons even, a little bit. Like I said, it’s fun to watch. You blink and put your head down and they’re rounding bases. You don’t even know where they’re at.”

Of the nine starters, only Cory Kay – Tuesday night’s hero – and Scott Donley, failed to record a hit.

The Cats also managed to do something no other Northwoods League team had managed to do so far in 2012, and that’s land an earned run off St. Cloud’s southpaw starter Tadd Johansen, who had given up 12 runs, all unearned, heading into Wednesday’s appearance.

They got to him in the third when Brett Kay slammed a triple to right to score Willis from first. Ryan Casillas followed two batters later with a two-run double, giving Thunder Bay starter Kacy Kemmer a comfortable 3-1 lead.

Willis scored again in the fourth, which helped chase Johansen from the game, then the Cats exploded for three more in the sixth.
The scoring started when temporary player Tony Viger scored on an errant pick-off attempt at third; they got another on Higley’s triple and the third on a Ryan Casillas single that netted him his third RBI of the contest.

Meanwhile Kemmer (W,1-1)  continued to roll along in his second start of the season, surviving seven strong innings of seven-hit, three-run ball before giving way to Thomas Rogers, who closed the game allowing just one run in two innings to earn the save, his first.

Cat tracks: The Border Cats are still waiting on several players to arrive, notably UCLA’s Patrick Gallagher and pitcher Zach Ortiz, both of whom are still playing in the College World Series. Cats assistant GM Bryan Graham said if UCLA wins even one game at the championship, it will likely be July before the duo is available. Also on hold are pitchers Matt Cooper, Mitch McQueen, Woody Nisbet, catcher Danny Bethea and infielders Adam Landecker and Kyle Lombardo ,,, Attendance was 1,119, sparked mostly by hordes of Lakehead Public School students in the stands.