NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat Mavericks pitcher Xander Roberts strides towards the plate with a pitch in the Mavs' 19-6 win Tuesday at Athletic Park over the Weyburn Beavers. Roberts is one of five Mavericks named to the WCBL's East division all-star roster.
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The Western Canadian Baseball League tabbed the all-stars on Thursday, with five Medicine Hat Mavericks getting the nod.
The Mavs will send two pitchers and three position players to the mid-summer classic held at Okotoks’ Seaman stadium on July 15.
Pitchers Xander Roberts and Luis Diaz, infielders Tyler Vanneste, Carter Roth and outfielder Jeremy Freeman Jr. all earned the honours.
Roberts, a senior at Tabor College, has a 3.73 ERA in seven games for the Mavs, making six starts with 23 strikeouts and four wins in 31.1 innings. His win total is tied for second most in the WCBL.
Diaz, a product of Mexico and a junior at Ottawa University, has worked almost exclusively out of the bullpen for the Mavs with a 4.35 ERA and 39 strikeouts in 35.2 innings of relief. He worked 5.2 innings in a start in the Mavs’ 11-10 win on the road over the Energy City Cactus Rats on July 5.
For Vanneste, in his fourth season in the WBCL, third with the Mavs, it will be his second trip to the all-star game. He was named an all-star in 2024 but was unable to participate in the game due to injury.
He has 40 hits, six home runs and 24 RBIs in 28 games while manning the hot corner at third base. He’s also scored 27 times, sporting a .342 batting average.
Roth has been MVP worthy since the first pitch of the 2025 WCBL season. The junior from Doane University is batting .410 with a league-leading 59 hits, two home runs and 31 RBIs. He’s scored 26 times and has struck out just nine times in 32 games.
The Mavs’ leadoff man, Freeman Jr., has set the table well for hitters behind him all season, batting .336 with 47 hits in 33 games. He’s scored 39 times and has 17 stolen bases on the season, tied for the league lead. Freeman Jr. hit his first WCBL home run in the Mavs’ 19-6 win Tuesday at Athletic Park over the Weyburn Beavers, and hit the repeat button on Wednesday with a three-run home run in the Mavs’ 11-8 comeback win over the same Beavers.
The Mavericks hosted the Moose Jaw Miller Express on Thursday , falling 19-5.
They have three more home games before the break, hosting the Swift Current 57’s on Friday before the Millers return for a rematch on Saturday. Both 7:05 p.m. starts.
The WCBL-leading Saskatoon Berries roll into town on Monday for a makeup game from a June 20 rainout. Fans with tickets for that rained out game can use them for admittance on Monday.
