Northwoods St. Cloud Rox

St. Cloud Rox Defeat Thunder Bay Border Cats

Published on May 28, 2014 under Northwoods League (Northwoods)
St. Cloud Rox News Release


Thunder Bay, ON - The St. Cloud Rox inaugurated their third season Tuesday night by defeating the Thunder Bay Border Cats 9-7 at Port Arthur Stadium on the opening night of the 2014 Northwoods League season. Pitchers Trevor Charpie (W, 1-0) and Kevin Burgee (S, 1) combined to allow just one base runner in the last four innings, allowing Harrison Wenson's two-run double in the top of the seventh to hold up as the Rox were victorious in Thunder Bay.

Rox starting pitcher Kenny Anderson fired four scoreless innings to begin the game for St. Cloud, scattering seven hits from the Border Cats as the left-handed pitcher picked up the no-decision. The offensive barrage for the Rox began in the top of the third when Eric Loxtercamp smacked a two-run homerun to left field that scored Danny Baer to give the Rox a 2-0 lead. Loxtercamp finished the game with a 3-for-5 night while scoring two runs and plating two more, including the Rox's first home run of the season.

From there, St. Cloud put up five more runs in the top of the fifth, four coming with nobody out in the inning off Thunder Bay starter Tyler Lequire to build a strong lead over the Border Cats at the midway point. After Baer and Loxtercamp hit consecutive singles and Charles Galiano reached on a fielders choice, Clay Ardeeser roped a double that brought all three in to score and Will Craig followed up with a double of his own to bring Ardeeser across the plate. Craig would eventually score after a sacrifice fly at the end of the inning from Wenson to make it a 7-0 lead for the Rox.

But the Border Cats did not go down without a fight, as they answered St. Cloud's big fifth inning with one of their own, getting seven runs off four hits in the bottom of the fifth to tie the game at seven. The threat in the fifth was ended when Charpie came in to record the final out of the inning, leaving two men on base and the score tied. He shut down the Border Cats in the sixth and seventh as well, going two and one-third innings while allowing just one hit.

The game stayed tied until the seventh inning, when Wenson registered the game-winning double to left-center field, bringing in Ardeeser and Craig to give the Rox their winning score of 9-7. Reliever Kevin Burgee came on for the final two innings of the bout for St. Cloud, retiring all six batters faced and striking out four to record his first save of the season and give the Rox their first victory (1-0) of 2014. Ardeeser finished the night 2-for-2 with two doubles, three RBIs and two runs scored as Wenson also totaled three RBIs to lead St. Cloud to the win over Thunder Bay (0-1).

The two teams will meet again today at 10:05 a.m. CST from Thunder Bay for the conclusion of the two-game series. After that the Rox will head to Willmar Thursday night for a one-game stand before heading back to St. Cloud on Friday, May 30th for the 2014 home opener with the Stingers at 7:05 p.m. at Joe Faber Field, presented by Coborn's. The game will feature former Minnesota Twins legend and two-time World Series champion Gene Larkin throwing out the ceremonial first pitch and signing autographs throughout the game, followed a huge post-game fireworks display presented by Coborn's.

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Northwoods League Stories from May 28, 2014


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