Getting set for the post-season

By Sean Rooney on July 25, 2017.

srooney@medicinehatnews.com @MHNRooney

A day after clinching a spot in the playoffs, the Medicine Hat Mavericks had their ace on the mound.

Their usual No. 2 hitter, however, walked around Athletic Park in jeans and a T-shirt.

It was an atypical night Monday as the Mavs beat the Brooks Bombers 8-1 in front of an announced crowd of 1,072. Jared Libke went eight innings, striking out seven and not allowing an earned run as his team scored four times in each of their final two at-bats.

Though the pressure was off as Medicine Hat (23-20) can no longer be passed by either Brooks or Fort McMurray in the Western Major Baseball League standings, the team would certainly like to finish higher than their current spot of fourth in the Western Conference.

“These games are momentum-builders,” said Louie Canjura, the aforementioned player-turned-fan for a night. “You’ve got to start winning these ones, because if you lose a lot in a row before playoffs there’s no momentum.”

Canjura bowled over Lethbridge catcher Cole Hadley in the eighth inning of Saturday’s home win, called out and then kicked out as a fracas ensued with both benches emptying onto the field.

He was handed a two-game suspension, as was Bulls relief pitcher Chris Stodolka who threw a Mavs player during the melee.

“In the first inning the same thing happened, I tried to slide between his legs because he was blocking the plate,” said Canjura, who’s been in a bench-clearing situation before. “In the (eighth) I was going to slide, but he was standing up straight so even if I slid I would’ve got hurt, or he would’ve got hurt even worse.”

Hadley took exception to Canjura not sliding, which is what escalated the incident.

Though Hat fans may imagine it’s a sign, the truth is the players don’t know much about the traditional Highway 3 rivalry. But as head coach Michael Thompson noted, if they wind up facing the Bulls in the playoffs the incident will be fresh in everyone’s minds.

“Each team wants to take it to the other team that much more, but as far as any other further brawls I don’t think there’s going to be any such thing,” said Thompson, whose club would indeed head to second-place Lethbridge to begin a best-of-five series if the season were to end today. “I think it was just one of those situations, unfortunately it escalated. I don’t think it’ll be a problem going forward.”

As for Monday, every player in the order had at least a hit, with Canjura’s replacement at second base Chris Rodriguez going 2-for-4 with 4 RBI and two runs from the nine-hole. His bases-loaded double in the eighth made it 7-1, more than enough breathing room for Libke who’s now 3-3.

The regular season ends Sunday, so expect playoffs to begin Tuesday or Wednesday when they’re announced. Thompson said he would love to be the home team in the first round, but he’s going to prioritize a healthy bullpen.

“I feel like we can matchup against any team on any given day. I’d love to get second place, I’d love to have home-field advantage… but to me we need to have everybody healthy and ready to go.”

Brooks, on the other hand, is playing out the string. Starter Mason Swegarden went 6 1/3 innings, striking out six before surrenduring four runs in the seventh. The Bombers are now 14-29, last in the conference. They’re back at Athletic Park Wednesday, then first-place Okotoks comes to town Thursday. Medicine Hat closes the regular season at Brooks Friday, then in Edmonton Saturday and Sunday.

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