NEWS FILE PHOTO
Medicine Hat Mavericks head coach Jonathon Thornhill scans the field in the second inning of a Mavs' 6-1 win at Athletic Park over the Brooks Bombers on June 6.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
Few coaches like chaos in the game of baseball, opting for more control. Medicine Hat Mavericks head coach Jonathon Thornhill likes a little chaos, especially on the base paths.
The first-year WCBL head coach hasn’t been afraid to throw signs around with runners on base, calling for bunts to move runners or get batters on base. In an age of baseball focused on throwing hard and hitting the ball harder, he likes to see baseball be played fundamentally.
“I’m a big fan of chaos on bases, you have to make them play baseball because they still have to field the ball and throw the ball to first base, so it’s good to put that chaos on,” Thornhill said. “The game has gotten away from it a little bit, and just doing little things to create those things. Everybody wants to be 60 to 70 home runs as a team and whatnot. And that’s great, but I’m a big believer of putting the ball in play, OBP and every hitter is different.”
Thornhill has coached the Mavs to a 19-11 record entering play Friday at Fort McMurray against the Giants who they blanked 1-0 Thursday. The lone run of that contest came in the eighth inning, an RBI single from third baseman Tyler Vanneste, driving in right fielder Aaron Vulcano who tripled to lead off the penultimate frame.
They used just three pitchers in the game, with Fawster Voytko starting and throwing five frames with three strikeouts. A.J. Doll and Luke Barrientos each worked two innings out of the bullpen with the latter recording a pair of strikeouts.
As they’ve cross over in the second half of the season, Thornhill says he knows what he is going to get from his players and he looks forward to seeing what they can further incorporate into their play as playoffs near.
“Maybe a couple more suicide squeeze this month, do some hit and running, do we do those things,” Thornhill said. “What other things can we do to get the best from them, day in and day out, as well as ourselves as coaches. What do they need from us?”
Nearing the two month mark of coaching in Canada, Thornhill says the WCBL and the experience in Medicine Hat has been as advertised. He’s enjoyed working with owner and general manager Greg Morrison and the rest of the Mavs’ staff.
“When you have a bunch of people who not only want to put a good product together on the field, but also take pride in making sure that they’re providing a good product, everybody else is easy to buy in and they want to give those rewards back by performing on the field as well as helping the best they can,” Thornhill said.
He’s enjoyed the different ball parks he’s seen, getting his first look at the Northern parts of the West division with the six-game road trip. They’ve made stops at Sylvan Lake and Fort Mac, finishing the road trip this weekend in Spruce Grove against the Energy City Cactus Rats.
He’ll get to see Okotoks’ Seaman Stadium during the WCBL’s all-star game on July 19, with just the homes of the Brooks Bombers and Lethbridge Bulls left to see. The next visit to those parks would require a finals meeting between the Mavs and either team, or a return for Thornhill next season.
Getting to see the parks around the league and get to know the different people and personalties that make the WCBL run has been a treat as well Thornhill says.
“Saskatoon has a good facility, Joe Carnahan has been very welcoming at Saskatoon, chatted up with him the last couple times they’ve been at our ballpark,” Thornhill said. “He’s a guy who’s been around the league for a bit and getting a chance to know him and talk with him and have him educate me on some things. Because being new here, it’s nice to hear what it’s been like, the do’s and don’ts, or the ins and outs of the WCBL, it’s been great.
I look forward to continue to see the league grow and hopefully get to be a part of it going forward.”
He’s also no stranger to one of the Mavs’ game day sponsors Days Off Pub, frequenting the establishment on Kingsway Ave SE, ordering nothing but the Cheesy Chicken Strips. It’s experiences like that, and dishes like those strips, that round out a summer’s experience to remember.
“Only my third time there and they already know what I’m going to order, I don’t even need to look at the menu and guys are hooked on the chicken now, guys are starting to get the same thing,’ Thornhill said. “You play a little pool with Nick and Austin and those guys and Reid, it’s a good time. You want to build the right memories and those are the little things off the field where you continue to do that.”
The Mavs’ game Friday at Fort McMurray was not complete by press time, visit medicinehatnews.com/sports for a full game story. They wrap up the six-game road trip against Energy City, playing Saturday (5:05 p.m.) and Sunday (1:35 p.m.) before returning home to an off-day Monday.
Their next action at Athletic Park is the Medicine Hat News Christmas In July game on Tuesday, July 8 against the Weyburn Beavers.
