NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat Mavericks desiganted hitter Zach Starks hits for a single in the second inning of the Mavs' 7-5 Game 2 loss Saturday night at Athletic Park against the Moose Jaw Miller Express.
The Medicine Hat Mavericks made it close Saturday night but could not complete the comeback.
The Mavs dropped Game 2 at Athletic Park 7-5 against the Moose Jaw Miller Express, putting the best-of-three East finals series at 1-1 and forcing a Game 3 Sunday at Moose Jaw. Medicine Hat won Game 1 Friday at Moose Jaw 5-4.
Head coach Kevin Mitchell says Saturday was the first time a games hasn’t gone their way in awhile and is looking forward to a bounce back Game 3.
“Lately things have gone our way, so that was some adversity right off the bat we had to deal with in the first half of that game,” Mitchell said. “Our guys handled it pretty well. As you move on in the playoffs naturally, it gets harder and that’s where we’re at right now. But the way we fought tonight and have forced Moose Jaw to use more pitching than I’m sure they would have liked to by this point, we can feel good about about that.
“There are no real moral victories at this time of year, but at the same time, the fact that we did not just roll over will probably help us tomorrow from a competitive standpoint. So a tough loss, it hurts, but it was a great baseball game and was a lot of fun.”
After two scoreless frames to open the game, Moose Jaw started their offence in the third inning with a three-run frame that started with a solo home run followed up by an RBI single and double. The Mavs chipped away in the bottom of the fourth, scoring a run on a sacrifice hit from shortstop Tyler Vanneste.
Moose Jaw added to their lead in the middle innings, scoring two runs in the fifth inning before plating two more in an interesting seventh inning.
Mavs’ starting pitcher Dylvan Esquival worked into the seventh inning, retiring the first batter with a two pitch groundout. He threw four pitches to the second batter of the inning, a ball followed up by a foul hit before two more balls. After objecting to the last ball call, without a warning or any acknowledgement, home plate umpire Brandon Oberg ejected the pitcher from the game. Esquival’s stat line fished at 6.1 innings pitched with four strikeouts while allowing six runs (two earned) on two walks and five hits.
Garrett Nicholson took over on the mound and worked the final 2.2 innings, striking out two while allowing one run (unearned) on four hits.
The Mavs made the game interesting in the eighth inning for the 1,542 faithful in attendance. A bases loaded walk from first baseman Andrew Savage drove in a run and was followed up by a two-run double from Vanneste. Catcher Dominic VanDoorne drove in their third run of the inning with a sacrifice fly to make it a 7-5 game.
Mitchell says the crowd and their impact on the game was what he would have wanted from a playoff crowd.
“It was the best crowd I’ve seen all year, even though we were down 7-1, nobody left,” Mitchell said. “They stuck with us through rain and cold weather and it’s huge, home field advantage is a real thing. It was special to see and to be part of, even though the outcome wasn’t what we wanted.
Medicine Hat pushed in the ninth inning but could not complete the come back, ultimately falling 7-5. Heading into the must-win Game 3, Mitchell says it will be a tense contest with the winner coming from whichever team can best control their emotions. He’s not looking for anything special from his team, he just wants to see them play like they did to get to this point.
“It can be detrimental to ask guys to do something special, we don’t need anybody do something special, we need them to be who they’ve been all year, the best versions of themselves,” Mitchell said. “I’m looking for a good team effort and all the things we’ve done to get us to this point. If we can do those, e’ll have a great chance to win. Whoever is on the mound, has got to fill it up. We’ve got to keep grinding out at bats and playing solid defense and that’s been our formula all the way all the way through.”
