NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat Mavericks centre fielder Jeremy Freeman Jr. celebrates his first WCBL home run, a two-run blast in the seventh inning of a 19-6 win Tuesday at Athletic Park over the Weyburn Beavers.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
Break out the Smash Mouth CD, there’s some all-stars who hit the ground running this WCBL season.
The Medicine Hat Mavericks will send five players to the WCBL’s all-star festivities July 19 at Okotoks’ Seaman Stadium, representing the East division in a game against the West division.
Infielders Tyler Vanneste and Carter Roth, outfielder Jeremy Freeman Jr. and pitchers Xander Roberts and Luis Diaz earned the all-star honours. For all but Vanneste, it’s the first WCBL all-star game with the other four in their rookie season in the summer league.
It won’t be the first all-star branded game for Roberts who received similar honours in Kansas. He joked with his parents about repeating the honours in Medicine Hat ahead of the season.
“I told my mom and my dad, how cool would it be if I ended up being an all-star in Canada,” Roberts said. “It wasn’t necessarily a goal of mine, but it was something that I briefly talked to my parents about and it’s super cool that I got it. So being an all-star in two different countries is cool.”
He’s looking forward to sharing the experience with the Mavs’ team, especially Freeman and Diaz who he played against the last two seasons while at Tabor College. Like Roberts, Freeman had the all-star game in mind before he donned the red and white.
Diaz is just as excited to go with the group as he is to represent Medicine Hat at the game.
“That was one of my first goals when I come here, trying to help the team, trying to be leader in the stats and also go to All Star game,” Diaz said. “So I feel like very proud and happy.”
Freeman shared similar goals, with the mid-season classic, just one of a few achievements on a list he hopes to check off.
“That was one of my goals coming down here was to be an all star and make some adjustments to my swings,” Freeman said. I’ve done it so far, so I’m proud of myself.”
His other goal,
“I want to be the MVP of the league and get a pro ball opportunity when I leave here, that’s about it.”
Head coach Jonathon Thornhill, who will also attend the all-star game, says they were difficult choices to make, narrowing down just five players who would represent the Mavs in Okotoks. He says the five chosen have excelled in key moments and performed consistently.
“When you win 23 of your 35 games, it’s hard to just pick five,” Thornhill said. “We’ve talked about it with a couple other guys that, ‘if this happens it could be this person.’ So kudos to them, I know everybody else is happy for then as well and it’s going to be fun to see them go and mingle with a lot of good players from around the league that we’ve seen throughout the year.”
Consistency describes Roth’s play to start the year, leading the WCBL in hits, RBIs and batting average for the entire first half of the season. He still leads in hits and is in the top five of the other two categories. He’s looking froward to seeing the league’s best and getting to be part of that group.
“It’s going to be great to meet some of those guys and some of those personalities that are out there and being able to compete head to head, their best versus our best,” Roth said. “It’s gonna show the best of the best and it’s going to be fun to play in.”
For Vanneste, he was named to the 2024 WCBL all-star game but was unable to play due to injury, still taking in the festivities. He says his mom and grandma texted him immediately, jokingly asking if he would be able to play in the game this season.
While knocking on wood, he’s looking forward being able to actually play in this year’s game.
“It’s obviously something you want as a player but just coming out here, working hard every day, you get a result the end of the day, but it’s also a team thing,” Vanneste said. “There’s a bunch of guys around you and coaches that help you get that to that.”
The Mavs hosted the Swift Current 57’s on Friday, winning 8-3.
They host the Moose Jaw Miller Express on Saturday, looking to rebound from a 19-5 loss on Thursday. The Mavs have an off day Sunday before hosting the Saskatoon Berries on Monday in a rescheduled game from June 21.
