Giants walk off Mavs
By RYAN MCCRACKEN on June 8, 2019.
rmccracken@medicinehatnews.com@MHNMcCracken The Medicine Hat Mavericks were dealt another tough blow on Friday night at Shell Place, falling back to .500 with a 6-5 loss to the Fort McMurray Giants. The Mavericks rallied to erase a three-run deficit to take a tie game into the final inning, but Giants designated hitter Richard Ortiz sealed the win with a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth. “It was a tough night and these are always hard to lose,” said Mavericks head coach Tom Vessella. “It’s like that one big inning has been hurting us this year, so once we figure that out and minimize the damage a little bit more I think we’re going to be right on track.” Despite the result, Vessella says his Mavericks returned to the visiting clubhouse fired up to go back at it. “We were excited and ready to play tomorrow,” said Vessella. “We’re a bunch of fighters and we’re not going to stop. We are fortunate enough where we’ve got two more games against a team that I think we can beat, we’ve just still got to play baseball.” Hat third baseman Austin Sojka got the offence rolling early with a solo shot in the second at-bat of the game, then Freddy Walker doubled up on the lead when he crossed on an error in the top of the third. The lead didn’t last long, as the Giants managed to get the better of Mavericks starter Owen Steele on a four-run rally in the home half of the third. Cam Sanderson started up the scoring on an RBI single, BJ Minarcin followed it up with an RBI double, then Richard Ortiz cashed Sanderson on an error and Brady Wood brought in another on a fielders choice before Steele finally brought an end to the frame. Peyton Crispin extended Fort McMurray’s to three on an RBI double in the fifth. Steele left the mound after closing out the frame – allowing five runs, three earned, on eight hits and a walk while striking out four. Derek Eubanks took the hill to start the sixth, keeping the Giants off the board and opening the door for his bats in the seventh – when Russell Strilchuck cashed a pair on an RBI double, then Freddy Walker brought him home with a game-tying RBI single. “He put a charge into that,” Vessella said of Strilchuck’s double. “He unloaded on the baseball and came up with some really big RBIs for his. He’s got some juice. It was right man, right spot. He had a great approach up there and took advantage of it.” But Ortiz broke through when it mattered to seal the walk-off win and give Fort McMurray a 2-0 edge in the four-game set. Eubanks settled for the loss after allowing the winning run on four hits over the final three-plus innings, dropping Medicine Hat to 4-4. “I’m really proud of him. He attacked, he threw more strikes. He came out of the bullpen and really shut them down,” said Vessella. “In that situation we went with our gut and said ‘E, you’re throwing well, go out there and do it again.’ And a bloop single, the wind took it and a guy was able to score from first.” Keith Manby took the win for Fort McMurray – pushing the Giants to 3-4 – after holding the Mavs to one hit with five strikeouts over the final 3 1/3 innings. Giants starter Will Langford left in the sixth after allowing five runs on eight hits with two walks and four strikeouts. Walker, Cameron Pope and John Velasco all finished with two hits for the Mavericks. McGrath led Fort McMurray with a 3-for-4 performance, while Ortiz was one of three Giants with two hits. The Mavericks and Giants go back at Saturday at 7:05 p.m. and Sunday at 2:05 p.m. “If we win the next two games that’s a pretty good road trip,” said Vessella. “If we go 4-2 on a road trip, especially a long one, that speaks a lot about our guys and the type of baseball team we have.” 20-19
