Former Border Cat makes Major League debut

A former Thunder Bay Border Cat has joined the Major League ranks.

Ryan Court, 31, was called up by the Seattle Mariners for the team's series against the Detroit Tigers on the weekend.

Court played for the Border Cats in 2010and was drafted by the Arizona Diamondbacks the next year.

"What a great story," saidMike Steed, the field manager for the 2010 Border Cats. "We've stayed in touch since 2010."

"Perseverance, grinding it out," Steed said. "Just a kid that loved baseball, you know? A good hitter, was very versatile, could play three or four different positions on the field, and for him to stick it out and for the Mariners to finally give him that chance, I can only imagine that he's over the moon right now."

It was a long road to the majors for Court. After being drafted, he played in the minor and independent leagues for nine years.

And when he took the field in Seattle for his first game as a major leaguer on Friday, Steed said, Court had a chance to make a big impact when he came into the game as a pinch hitter.

"His Major League debut was in the ninth inning of a two-two ballgame, and he came in with the winning run on second," Steed said. "He hit the first pitch, stung it to left for an out, but I can only imagine what was going through his mind right there. He was probably thinking, "'If I see something, I'm going to jump on it."

Court fared better in Saturday's game, in which he was a starter, going 2-5at the plate, with three RBIs.

"It was typical Ryan Court," Steed said. "Just a great ballplayer."

Sunday, Court went 0-2.

The Mariners next play Tuesday night, when they take on the Texas Rangers.

Court is the seventh former Border Cat to make the Major Leagues, following Matt Mangini, Jonathan Diaz, Blaine Hardy, A.J. Schugel, Seth Frankoff, and Wes Parsons.