NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat Mavericks infielder Tyler Vanneste swings at a pitch in the eighth inning of the Mavs' 11-5 win Sunday at Athletic Park over the Weyburn Beavers.
Medicine Hat News
The Medicine Hat Mavericks held on long enough for the final punch Sunday.
The Mavs trailed the Weyburn Beavers 4-1 through four innings, clawing back and holding on for an 11-5 win at Athletic Park, recording a sweep of the three-game some stand. Medicne Hat beat the Beavers 6-5 on Saturday in a 10th inning walk off, coming off an 8-1 win Friday over the Brooks Bombers.
Mavs’ head coach Jonathon Thornhill tipped his cap to the Weyburn starting pitchers for holding them at by a until late in the game.
“They’ve executed pitches, pitch to contact, guys taking big swings at times, but when it mattered most and it got to their bullpen, our guys took advantage of it,” Thornhill said. “That’s been the key so far, early on, Regina did the same thing. They started through well and then once we get into the bullpen, our guys kind of light it up a little bit. So we just talked about it, they never give up, guys know what they are capable of until the final out.”
Weyburn opened the scoring Sunday afternoon, scoring two runs on a pair of hits in the top of the first inning. Medicine Hat responded in the bottom of the frame with a solo home run from Tyler Vanneste, his fourth home run of the season.
A quick second inning turned the page to the third frame where Weyburn scored another pair of runs, jumping ahead 4-1. That inning ended starter Gary Dornan’s day, he finished with five hits and four runs allowed, surrendering two walks while striking out a pair in three innings. Jesse Alfaro took over on the mound and recorded a four-pitch strikeout and opened another at bat up with a ball.
He was shaking his arm and shoulder out throughout the first I’ve pitches, prompting an early exit from the game that Thornhill says was a precaution.
“He had a little lat issue there, so good news is nothing major,” Thornhill said. “With this being summer ball early on, the number one goal is to make sure they get back to their schools healthy. So we want to make sure we take care of him there.”
Diego Centella took over and worked through the sixth inning, allowing just one hit and two walks, striking out three batters in 2.2 innings pitched.
The Mavs tied the game up in the bottom of the fifth, scoring three runs in the frame.
Outfielder Yusei Uzawa drove in a run with an RBI single, leaving runners on the corner with one out. He scored two batters later, when an RBI single from Carter Roth knocked in a run and saw Uzawa score on an error.
Uzawa gave the Mavs a lead an inning alter with an RBI single up the middle, driving in a run from second base.
Garrick Levesque took over on the mound for the Mavs in the seventh, allowing a run on three hits as Weyburn tied the game up at 5-5. He worked out of a jam with runners on first and third base. A Beavers’ runner on first broke for second looking for the stolen base and failed to tag up on a fly out to right field, getting thrown out at first for the inning-ending force out.
The Mavs fell victim to the same play in the bottom half of the inning, seeing two outs come on a fly out to right field. They made good on the blunder an inning later, scoring six runs to grab the lead.
Uzawa drove in a run with a single to right field, putting the Mavs ahead 6-5 with his third RBI of the afternoon. Vanneste knocked in a run with an RBI single of his own and Roth knocked in another run with a single, all three RBI singles coming with one out.
They blew open the game with a three-run double from Johnny Vulcano who pinch hit for Blake Dale in the designated hitter spot in the sixth inning, putting the Mavs ahead 11-5 heading to the ninth inning.
Luke Barrientos took over on the mound to start the eighth and worked into the ninth, preserving the lead with three innings in the ninth, allowing a pair of hits, to finish with four punch outs on the afternoon as they secured the win.
Medicine Hat out hit the Beavers 14-11, Weyburn committed two error to the Mavs’ one.
The Mavs (9-2) are off until Tuesday when they head to Saskatoon to face the Berries, the first of a two-game set against Saskatoon and the opening game of a three-game road trip.
