Border Cats back on the field Monday for 2025 Northwoods League season

CBC News

· Posted: May 26, 2025 11:18 AM EDT | Last Updated: 1 hr ago

The Thunder Bay Border Cats are backmost connected the tract Monday, arsenic they statesman their quest for the 2025 Northwoods League championship.

The Cats unfastened the play connected the road, facing the Eau Claire Express successful Wisconsin connected Monday and Tuesday, earlier returning to Thunder Bay for Wednesday's location opener astatine Port Arthur Stadium.

"I deliberation we're going to beryllium beauteous bully defensively," squad wide manager and vice-president Bryan Graham said during a signifier Sunday day astatine Port Arthur Stadium. "We've got immoderate kids that tin truly propulsion strikes, and it's conscionable a substance of, you know, being capable to enactment bat connected shot and people immoderate runs."

"The Northwoods League, it's a existent moving league," helium said. "Teams don't rely, obviously, connected the agelong shot and the location run."

"Hopefully we tin tally the bases and make immoderate chaos and score immoderate runs."

This year's squad includes a premix of caller and returning players, Graham said.

"We've got Trey Fikes down the sheet again, who is simply a truly coagulated catcher," helium said. "Last twelvemonth helium threw retired similar 32 per cent of would beryllium base-stealers, which is an unbelievable stat. I mean, major league catchers that bash 25 per cent are considered top-rate defensively."

Fikes said helium had a bully acquisition successful Thunder Bay past year. 

"I'm truthful excited," Fikes said. "I cannot hold to get connected the field. I truly missed it."

Fikes said helium was blessed with however the Cats played past year — they didn't marque the playoffs, but finished the play successful 3rd spot successful the Great Plains East division with 35 wins and 34 losses.

"I deliberation it truly conscionable takes similar locking successful each day, and conscionable not checking out, due to the fact that it's a agelong season, you know?" helium said. "It takes a batch to enactment locked successful the full 70 games."

One of this year's caller players is Toronto-born outfielder Calvin Warrillow, who plays collegiate shot astatine Dodge City Community College successful Kansas, Okla. That squad is coached by erstwhile Border Cats tract manager J.M. Kelly.

"I wanted to play northbound of the border," helium said. "Spent a batch of clip arsenic a Canadian shot subordinate down south, and I wanted to play for one of the amended teams successful Canada."

Warrillow agreed that pitching and defence volition beryllium cardinal for the Cats successful 2025.

"I deliberation we gotta transportation it well, deed it well, play bully defence, and everybody conscionable does their job," helium said. "I deliberation we'll person a bully year."

Fans whitethorn spot a flimsy quality connected the tract astatine Port Arthur Stadium this year — the Northwoods League has adopted the treble "safety bags" astatine archetypal base.

Field manager Joe Ellison said the alteration volition "lead to hopefully immoderate safer plays astatine first, but besides a small spot much amusive with the rules and whatnot with it."

Ellison said the Cats volition beryllium bringing a slightly-smaller roster connected their archetypal roadworthy trip, arsenic players decorativeness up their assemblage seasons.

"We're going down with 23 (players). But by the location opener we should beryllium up to 28, 29," helium said. 

"A batch of returners, 7-8 returners, heavy Canadian," helium said. "I deliberation we're gonna person 24 (Canadians) that enactment the jersey connected implicit the people of the year, and past equilibrium it retired with immoderate bully American endowment arsenic well."

The Thunder Bay Border Cats big the Rochester Honkers for their location opener connected Wednesday astatine Port Arthur Stadium.

Game clip is 6:35 p.m. ET.