Mavericks fall to Giants to open four-game series

By SEAN ROONEY on June 7, 2019.

The long road to Fort McMurray did the Medicine Hat Mavericks no favours Thursday.

After winning the first two games of their road trip in Edmonton, the Mavs doomed themselves with errors in an 11-4 loss to the Giants.

“Errors are always an issue, whatever level you’re playing at,” said Hat head coach Tom Vessella. “It’s all about how your team bounces back.”

Two errors helped the Giants build an early lead. In the bottom of the second inning, Mavs catcher Reed Odland threw a ball high over first base on a squib of a ground ball, allowing two runs to score.

In the third, miscommunication between left-fielder John Velasco and shortstop Collin Klingensmith resulted in Klingensmith dropping a fly ball that would’ve ended the inning. Instead, another run came home to make it 6-2 for the home side.

Vessella said he saw positives in how the team responded from the early adversity. Starting pitcher Jaymon Cervantes settled down to last until the seventh inning, pulled after the Giants added two more runs on four straight two-out singles. Fort McMurray got one more big hit off reliever Dylan Sund, a triple with the bases loaded in the seventh by Peyton Crispin that halted any thought of a comeback.

Idaho’s Ike Buxton kept Medicine Hat’s bats cool at Shell Place, allowing four hits in six innings as his team improved to 2-4. Klingensmith had two RBI singles, one in the second and another in the eighth, while Freddy Walker (in the second) and Austin Sojka (in the seventh) also had RBI singles. All of the Mavs runs came with two outs, a good sign in Vessella’s book but certainly not enough given the hole they put themselves in.

“It gets to a point where it’s tougher to score those runs,” he said. “It got away from us a little bit… you’ve got to give Fort Mac credit, they went for it.”

Now 4-3, the Mavs continue with the second of four games in Fort McMurray tonight. Medicine Hat doesn’t return home until Monday, only to face the Giants at Athletic Park Tuesday night. The Mavs will be wearing special jerseys promoting the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge.

AROUND THE WCBL: After big wins over Medicine Hat and Brooks, the Lethbridge Bulls were taken to task Thursday by the still-unbeaten Okotoks Dawgs.

The Dawgs won 9-5 in Lethbridge, scoring four in the top of the first inning and only hurt by four Bulls runs in the bottom of the ninth with the score already lopsided.

Okotoks is now 7-0, while Lethbridge is 4-4. Medicine Hat, at 4-3, is second place in the Western Canadian Baseball League’s West Division.

Ashton Roy of the Bulls had three home runs and 9 RBI in Wednesday’s 22-3 win over Brooks. He’s tied for the league home run lead with four and alone with 17 RBI in eight games.

At the other end of the spectrum, Yorkton’s Cardinals finally got a win Thursday, a 7-5 decision over Moose Jaw. Michael Borst hit a key seventh-inning home run. The Cardinals improved to 1-7.

Edmonton bounced back from two losses to Medicine Hat with a 14-3 win in Brooks. Taran Oulton had a rare complete game for the Prospects, getting the win despite throwing 141 pitches and letting up 13 hits.

Weyburn beat Melville 8-3, highlighted by Justin Summers’ three-run home run in the sixth.

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