Blue Thunder beat Border Cats
NORTHWOODS LEAGUE
The Brainerd Blue Thunder gave one of their biggest crowds one of their best games as they beat the Thunder Bay Border Cats 13-1 in the home-season finale before 1,108 fans at Mills Field Friday night.
Back
Brainerd jumped out to a 3-0 lead after three innings and watched its lead grow as the Blue Thunder scored seven more runs for a 10-0 lead before the Border Cats got on the scoreboard.
Andy Dirks and Ben Orloff led the offensive. Dirks went 4-for-4 with two doubles, a triple, three runs scored and three RBIs. Dirks' triple gives him seven on the season, which leads the Northwoods League. Orloff, meanwhile, went 2-4 with three runs and four RBIs.
Ben Orloff went 2-for-4 with 3 runs and 4 RBIs
Adam Symons went 2-4 and scored two runs while Jared McDonald had a two-run double. Patrick Rose chipped in with a pair of hits, including a double. Ryan Lipkin and Xavier Scruggs each drove in a run. Even pitcher Bryan Evans got into the action as he went 1-1 with an RBI.
The Blue Thunder also received a stellar pitching performance from Aaron Pribanic. He gave up one run on seven hits with four walks and five strikeouts in eight innings of work. Tyler Brandon worked the ninth in relief and gave up a hit.
The Blue Thunder will close out their season with a two-game series at Thunder Bay this weekend.
Thunder Bay 000 000 100 - 1 8 5
Brainerd 102 025 21x - 13 4 1
Thunder Bay: Matt Fields, David Merchant (5), Dan Zehr (6), Chris Curley (7) and Danny Benedetti. Brainerd: Aaron Pribanic, Tyler Brandon (9) and Ryan Lipkin. W: Pribanic (2-2). L: Fields (5-5).
2B: Brd-Jared McDonald, Andy Dirks 2, Patrick Rose, David Wilson; TB-Temple MacDonald. 3B: Brd-Dirks. SB: Brd-Ryan Royster, Ben Orloff. RBI: Brd-Orloff 4, Dirks 3, Xavier Scruggs, McDonald 2, Lipkin, Bryan Evans; TB-Curley. LOB: Brd 9, TB 12. DP: Brd 1, TB 1.
T: 2:57. A: 1108.
Records: Brd 14-17, TB 14-18. Next: Brd at Thunder Bay 6:05 p.m. Saturday.