Major Mavs sweep round robin, face host Kingston in semis today
By JAMES TUBB on August 7, 2024.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb The Medicine Hat U12AAA Major Mavs will carry a perfect record into the Little League national playoffs. The Mavs secured a perfect 6-0 round-robin record at the nationals with a 7-0 win Tuesday morning over Team Ontario, clinching the first place seed at the seven-team tournament. Tuesday’s game was a makeup for a rained out contest on Monday. Major Mavs head coach Steve Russell says the shutout win Tuesday was a pleasant surprise to cap off the round robin. “The Ontario team knew what their outcome was, the best they could do was third so they threw a couple of their number three, number four guys, but we ended up having to use five pitchers in that game,” Russell said. “Each one contributed one way or another and then the bats again, top to bottom, guys contributed and made sure we kept it within reach. They outlived any expectations I had for that game.” The Major Mavs were led offensively in the win by Burke Morrison, who tallied four RBIs on two different two-run hits, also scoring a run. Madden Ellis had two hits with an RBI and Jack Harris scored a run and had a hit. They were able to escape jams in the game, the turning point coming in the fourth inning with a 3-0 lead when the Mavs worked out of a one-out, bases-loaded jam. Daxton Simpson was on the mound and worked a ground ball that he threw to Gavin Russell behind the plate for the second out, and he threw it to Beckham Sprunger for the third out. “Pitcher to catcher, catcher to first and they beat the guy at first by more than a step, it was unbelievable,” Russell said. “That’s something I’ve just never seen. It was a real treat to see and that shut down any momentum for Ontario and got us out of the inning, it was clutch.” Beckett Lybbert started the game for the Major Mavs, working two innings with three strikeouts. Archer Cunningham pitched an inning and Simpson worked 1.2 innings with a punch-out. Reid Pluta worked an out and Madden Ellis finished the game on the mound with two strikeouts in his inning of work. The Major Mavs finish the round robin with 49 runs scored in six games, allowing just three runs while working five shutout games. Russell says they preached consistency and the importance of defence and pitching all season, and he says they’re seeing it pay dividends at the right time. “It doesn’t happen unless you have the pitchers that can throw your ground balls and stay away from the line drives and stuff through the gaps, hard shots,” Russell said. “All in all, it’s just everybody’s trying to contribute and doing the job they need to do.” With the win, the Major Mavs face the fourth seed Kingston Colts today for a spot in the finals on Thursday and a chance to win and represent Canada at the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Penn. They beat Kingston 10-0 in four innings on Sunday. The other semifinals matchup is with second place Team B.C. and third place Team Ontario. Russell says they have some fresh arms for the game Wednesday and he says they’re confident heading into the rematch. “We know this team, and I think we can, more times than not, outperform with our game, but we’re not going to put the cart ahead of the horse,” Russell said. “We’re definitely going to have to play our game tomorrow, because they’ll come out with their number one. He’s a kid who pitches very similar to some of our guys and is a good pitcher in his own right who was able to take and beat Quebec. “On top of that, they’re going to have that 10th man, they’re going to have a huge crowd. So we’re gonna be on top of our game and make sure we cross our T’s and dot our I’s all the way through and stay in it mentally.” 16-15
