Medicine Hat News
The Medicine Hat Mavericks might wind up playing less than their 48-game regular season after their game in Okotoks Thursday was rained out.
With a doubleheader already needed today in Okotoks and Monday their only off-day prior to playoffs starting at Athletic Park next Tuesday, the only chance the teams would play is if the Western Major Baseball League deems it necessary. With Medicine Hat’s magic number for clinching the Western Division down to one, that’s not likely.
The rainout comes two days after the league announced changes to the regular season and playoff schedules for 2019. Clearly looking to add more income for teams, the WMBL will move to a 56-game schedule (four more home dates per team) and playoffs will be shrunk to best-of-three instead of best-of-five.
That means playoffs won’t start until the second week of August, and gives a better chance for weaker teams to steal a series.
Medicine Hat is at Lethbridge Saturday and Brooks Sunday. They’ll host playoff games Tuesday and Wednesday against either Lethbridge or Edmonton.
