THUNDER BAY, Onatario — The Rochester Honkers got off to a fast start Sunday and, for a rare time this season, made their opponent try to play catch-up.
Rochester scored four runs before homestanding Thunder Bay even had an at-bat, and it led to the Honkers earning an 8-3 Northwoods League victory against the Border Cats at Port Arthur Stadium.
The Honkers never trailed in the game and improved to 2-4 in the second half of the season, and 10-32 overall.
Rochester received a quality start from pitcher Beau Alazaus, who went six innings and allowed three runs on six hits. He struck out two batters and walked just one. Alazaus gave two runs back to Thunder Bay in the bottom of the first, but he and reliever Joseph Steventon combined to allow just one run and three hits the rest of the way.
Steventon pitched the final three innings, allowing no runs on two hits.
Rochester struck four times in the first, sending nine batters to the plate.
Tommy Eisenstat walked with the bases loaded to start the scoring, then Payton Knowles hit an RBI single, Angel Cortez added a sacrifice fly and Keegan Landis hit a two-out RBI single to make it 4-0.
The Border Cats pulled within 4-3 in the third, and that’s how the score remained until Rochester added a run in the sixth on another bases-loaded walk by Eisenstat. Then, the Honkers tacked on three runs in the eighth — on a two-RBI double by Knowles, followed by a double by Cortez.
Eisenstat, Joel Roberts and Kai Caranto had two hits each, while Knowles drove in three runs and Eisenstat and Cortez each drove in two.
Rochester begins an eight-game homestand on Monday with a 6:35 p.m. game against the Minot (N.D.) Hot Tots.
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