By RYAN MCCRACKEN on April 22, 2019.
rmccracken@medicinehatnews.com@MHNMcCracken
They may have left without a victory, but the Medicine Hat Mohawks varsity baseball team didn’t return empty-handed from their trip to San Diego.
Mohawks head coach Lyall Foran says the team gained a wealth of experience in their six-night trip to Southern California, which included a gritty performance at the Lions Baseball Tournament and plenty of team building under the sun.
“We were right there with every single game and hopefully these guys realize we can play competitive baseball no matter where we go,” said Foran. “To show them that there’s so much to this world and show them about the culture and baseball in general – baseball doesn’t change, everywhere you go baseball is baseball, and we’re able to compete at a high level. But getting to show them new experiences, different places and meeting new people and really making memories that are going to last a lifetime for these guys, that’s what it’s all about for me.”
The Mohawks closed out the tournament at 0-4 – falling 1-0 to the Linfield Christian Lions, 4-1 to Valley Arts, 6-4 to Morse High School and 10-6 to the West Achorage Eagles – but Foran says they didn’t travel to sweep a tournament, they traveled to test their mettle against the best.
“They were all tight baseball games and that’s exactly what we want,” he said. “We want to go places and play tough competition and grow as a team, and I think we certainly did that.”
After going 0-3 in the 2A bracket, the Mohawks entered a consolation game against West Anchorage Thursday – a 3A division team that carries its season into the summer as a Legion squad – and nearly stole a victory.
After rallying to narrow a 6-2 deficit to 6-5 with three runs in the top of the sixth inning, the Mohawks surrendered four in the home half of the inning and were only able to tack on a single run in response.
Tory Nelson closed out the game at 2-for-3 with 2 RBI and a walk, while Felix Miller added 1 RBI in a 3-for-4 outing as the leadoff hitter, and Jordan Hieb and Josh Stark added each added 1 RBI in hitless outings.
Stark started the game on the mound and held the Eagles to six suns on six hits through 3 and 2/3 innings with four walks and seven strikeouts. Miller held West Anchorage off the bases for 1 and 1/3 before the Eagles tacked on three more in 1/3 of an inning against Hayden Hall and another in the final 2/3 of the sixth against Austin Moch.
Foran added he was truly impressed with the way his team battled on the ball diamond at the tournament, especially on the mound and in the field.
“These were fairly strong teams that we were playing. They played really strong baseball and had really good hitters, and our pitchers did a great job of holding them down. Defensively they didn’t make many mistakes,” he said. “Our bats maybe weren’t there as much as I would have liked, but our pitching and defence was fantastic. In any one of those games we certainly could have capitalized on a couple opportunities and came away with a couple wins.”
The experiences didn’t stop on the ball diamond, though they do change stadiums from time to time. Over the course of their six-night stay in California, the Mohawks managed to take in the sights at the beach and the world renowned San Diego Zoo before catching a game between the San Diego Padres and Colorado Rockies, as well as touring San Diego State University and taking in one of their games against the Air Force.
“It was really neat for the guys,” said Foran. “Some of them had the opportunity to come down to Myrtle Beach with us last year, so they had a little bit of an expectation as to what they would see down there as far as calibre of play and the experiences that we would go on. It was nice just having last year’s experience as a blueprint for what we wanted to do.
“It was really kind of jam-packed and that’s the way I like it. We try to show these kids as many things as possible. It was a really great experience and everybody had a good time.”
Medicine Hat High School’s baseball academy has allowed Foran the opportunity to take his student-athletes around the continent to grow their game. Last year the squad made a trip to play a tournament in Myrtle Beach before switching to San Diego this year. Foran says they’re looking into a new destination next year, with the long-term goal creating a three-year circuit for players graduating through the academy.
“Hopefully we can continue this trend and find somewhere neat to go next year. Maybe if we do that, then we’ve got three different locations that we can keep cycling through, so as kids are in Grade 10, 11, 12, they’re getting a different experience every single year,” said Foran. “There is a tournament in Hawaii, so we’ll see what we can come up with for these guys.”