NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat Mavericks infielder Tory Nelson stands ready during an at bat in the Mavericks 6-5 win over the Weyburn Beavers on July 2 in Weyburn.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
The Medicine Hat Mavericks’ Tory Nelson stands out in a lot of ways.
The 5-foot-8 infielder from Medicine Hat has taken many roles with his hometown club this season, from first-base coach to back-up infielder. With Adrian Salazar playing pro baseball in Mexico, Nelson has started at third base for the last week and has flourished.
Head coach Tyler Jeske said Nelson has impressed with how he embraced his role at the start of the year and ran with the position since.
“At the start of the year we had the same conversation, this first part of the season I can’t promise you a ton of at-bats or playing time,” Jeske said. “But I promise you, if you show up or show up early to get extra work in and if you’re on time and ready to work every day, by the end of the year, it could be a different song and dance and a different story. Tory’s been the ultimate team guys and he’s been able and willing to do anything we’ve asked of him.”
In the Mavericks’ last six games, Nelson has drove in four runs, including a two-run home run in a 4-3 loss to Fort McMurray on July 9. He drove in two runs Wednesday night in the Mavs’ 10-5 loss in Swift Current against the 57’s, a game cut short in the fifth inning due to lightning.
Nelson said he’s just trying to have fun every day.
“I’m just having as much fun as I can, you know, any way to help the team out I’m there,” Nelson said. “It’s a lot of work, so I just come in every day and have a smile on my face.”
That attitude can be seen in his first-base coach duties, something he said he had a lot of fun with. Whether it was racing opposing coaches(he usually wins) or wearing all of a hitter’s batting gear, Nelson was all for it. That included an embrace from infielder Kellen Williamson, who, after picking up a base hit and before giving Nelson his batting gear, would give the MedHat product’s moustache a twirl.
Nelson said it was something they did after his moustache had a little curl in it one day, and Williamson had a hit. His moustache is something he takes pride in.
“It’s been a work in progress; I went from like a beard to a goatee, and then finally it just kind of came down to working on the moustache because I could curl it,” Nelson said. “I had it before ‘Top Gun’, I get asked a lot if it’s from Top Gun but I say I’m unique because I got the French curl.”
Jeske said Nelson took the role of being a first-base coach seriously and embraced the responsibility of breaking down opposing pitchers while having fun.
“He’s the guy coming back to the dugout with, ‘Hey this is what his timing is, you can see X, Y and Z for his tell for when he’s going or when he’s picking off,'” Jeske said. “He was coming back with tidbits like that, and that really told me this guy’s extremely engaged and locked in mentally, and now he’s been in the lineup consistently and he’s been outstanding.”
Jeske had to think for a minute when asked who he would rather as a base coach, Nelson or assistant coach Michael Forgione but had a decisive answer.
“No. 1, Forge doesn’t quite have the moustache,” Jeske said. “I can tell you, I’d rather have Tory Nelson playing third base right now than coaching a base.”
Nelson and the Mavericks were in action Thursday night at Athletic Park against the 57’s. That game was not finished by press time, visit medicinehatnews.com/sports for a full story.
