Border Cats Tame League-Leading Rox 10-5 at Port Arthur Stadium

THUNDER BAY — The St. Cloud Rox came into Port Arthur Stadium sitting atop the Northwoods League and perhaps thinking the Thunder Bay Border Cats were due for a declawing. Not at the old ballpark on Friday night.

For the second night in a row, the Cats had the louder bats, the sharper finish and the home crowd behind them, knocking off St. Cloud 10-5 before heading out on a short road trip. The win followed Thursday’s 13-6 Thunder Bay victory over the Rox, giving the Border Cats back-to-back statement wins against the club that arrived in town with a 12-4 record and the league lead.

Cats Answer Early Rox Bite With a Big Home Response

St. Cloud drew first blood in the second inning when Jackson Akin launched a solo home run to left, putting the Rox up 1-0. But the Cats did not blink.

Thunder Bay answered in the bottom half with pressure baseball. Hayden Crites walked, Colin Fisher singled, Jorge Valdes worked a walk, and Jacob Poletto reached on an error that brought home two runs. Just like that, the Cats had turned a Rox lead into a 2-1 Thunder Bay advantage.

The Rox tied it in the third, taking advantage of a stolen base, an error and a Nolan Geislinger single. But this was not a night where the league leaders were going to roll through the north.

Fourth Inning Gives Thunder Bay Control

The game tilted hard toward the home side in the fourth.

Valdes walked, stole second, moved to third and then came racing home when Manny Alberto ripped a triple to right field. That gave Thunder Bay a 3-2 lead and brought the Port Arthur Stadium faithful to life.

Then Stevie Waters stepped in and delivered one of the loudest swings of the night, driving a ground-rule double to left that scored Alberto and made it 4-2 Cats.

That was enough for St. Cloud to go to the bullpen, but by then the damage had been done.

Fisher, Waters and Crites Keep the Line Moving

The Rox scratched one back in the fifth, but Thunder Bay came right back with two more in the bottom half.

Crites walked again, Fisher reached on an error, and Valdes put the ball in play to help bring another run across. Owen Ralph then laid down the kind of sacrifice bunt that does not show up as loudly as a double in the box score, but wins ball games in June. Fisher scored, and the Cats were in front 6-3.

St. Cloud made its push in the sixth, cutting the lead to 6-5 with a sacrifice bunt and sacrifice fly. But Thunder Bay had the answer ready.

Alex Kean singled, Crites doubled to left, and Fisher dropped a ball into centre field that sent two Cats home. That was the ball game’s turning point: St. Cloud had clawed back within one, and Thunder Bay immediately pushed the lead back to three.

Seventh-Inning Insurance Seals It

The Cats added two more in the seventh for good measure.

Poletto and Ralph both walked to start the inning. Waters, who had already doubled in a run, singled to right to score Poletto. Dante Smith then grounded out to bring Ralph home, stretching the Thunder Bay lead to 10-5.

From there, the Cats shut the door. The eighth was scoreless, and Ryan James finished the night with a clean ninth, retiring Akin, Carter Jorissen and Tanner Recchio in order.

Final from Port Arthur Stadium: Thunder Bay 10, St. Cloud 5. OurSports Central also lists the Border Cats’ Friday win as a 10-5 final and shows Thunder Bay’s next games on the road at Eau Claire and Duluth before returning home Wednesday, June 17, against Waterloo.

Why It Matters

This was more than a mid-June win. St. Cloud came north as the top club in the Northwoods League, leading the Great Plains West by four games and ranking among the league’s stronger teams in both batting average and earned-run average.

Thunder Bay did not just win once. The Cats beat the Rox twice in two nights by a combined 23-11. For a Border Cats club building momentum at home, that is the kind of series that can change the feel of a season.

Now the Cats leave the den for a quick road swing, with games scheduled Saturday and Sunday at Eau Claire and Monday and Tuesday at Duluth.

They return to Port Arthur Stadium on Wednesday, June 17, for a 6:35 p.m. matchup with the Waterloo Bucks.