Mavericks 9, Bulls 6: Nine unanswered runs give Mavs series lead
By Sean Rooney on August 3, 2017.
SEAN ROONEYsrooney@medicinehatnews.com
Twitter: MHNRooney
Billed as a matchup of deadly offences, the first-round Western Major Baseball League series between the Medicine Hat Mavericks and Lethbridge Bulls was anything but through two games.
The bats finally got going Thursday in a big way.
Lethbridge got on the board first but the home team rallied for a 9-6 win to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five series.
Medicine Hat will look to advance to the Western Conference finals when Game 4 happens tonight (7:05 p.m., Athletic Park).
“We weren’t worried, we knew our offence was going to come in at some point,” said Mavericks outfielder Jackson Freed. “Tonight it was big-time. We needed that, for sure.”
For the third straight game both starting pitchers sailed along for the first few innings. But a pair of walks and a wild pitch by Medicine Hat’s Tyler Skinner brought home the first run for the visitors in the fourth. Blake MacDonald added an RBI double.
The lead grew to 6-0 with a four-run sixth, highlighted by Alex Bishop’s three-run home run to dead-centre field.
But the Mavs have come back from worse.
Medicine Hat got a clutch hit against left-hander Wesley Moore in the sixth, a two-out, two-run job by Freed that narrowed Lethbridge’s lead to 6-3.
Then, with two on in the seventh, Blake Rowlett swung, yelled “let’s go!” then threw his bat and circled the bases on an electric three-run home run that tied the contest. He didn’t even see it land.
“That was one for the memory book right there,” said Rowlett, who’s become a clubhouse leader in his third season with the Mavs and fourth overall in the league. “That was one of the best-feeling swings I’ve had in a long time.”
Run-scoring hits from Jaxson Hooge and Freed followed for a five-run frame that had many in the crowd of 1,260 on their feet.
“The umpire’s zone tightened up a little bit, we started off with two walks and Rowlett’s a great hitter,” said Bulls coach Jesse Sawyer. “We threw a mistake and he smashed it.”
Relief pitcher Barry Caine then held the Bulls, letting up one run on three hits in three innings. David Salgueiro doubled and scored on a Colton Wright double in the eighth to round out the scoring. Connor Deeds threw the ninth for the second night in a row for the save.
Sawyer knew the Mavs could explode and figures his club just needs to stay the course to force a fifth and deciding game Saturday at their home park, Spitz Stadium.
“It was another good game,” he said, before noting he hadn’t yet decided on a starting pitcher for Friday. “It stings right now but we’re going to come back tomorrow, fight and see if we can get it home for Game 5.”
Medicine Hat will go with Tanner Helms, and will hope to keep some of the momentum they gained Thursday.
“Baseball’s a weird game like that,” said coach Michael Thompson. “It looks like it’s all downhill then one swing of the bat or a couple guys getting on base… it changes the momentum.
“It’s going to be a dogfight.”
2-1
