The Medicine Hat Mavericks may have risen up the standings, but the team on top isn’t there by accident.
At Okotoks Tuesday, the Mavs lost 6-5 on a bases-loaded single by Kory Longaker off relief pitcher Jon Guardado with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning.
Up 5-4 thanks to a pair of RBI singles from Taylor Wright, the Mavericks didn’t commit an error against the Dawgs, outhit them 14-9 but wound up with their second narrow loss in a row.
Now 25-6, Okotoks has a nine-game lead on top of second place in the Western Canadian Baseball League’s Western Division and continues to exude confidence. Even though Guardado retired the first two batters, a trio of walks loaded the bases and Longaker made him pay with a single up the middle.
The Mavs fell to 14-18. Austin Sojka went 3-for-5 with three runs. Wright also went 3-for-5. Starting pitcher Evan Sutta started slow but wound up with six innings to be in line for the win.
The teams rematch tonight in Medicine Hat. The Mavericks are also at home Thursday to face Lethbridge.
Note: This story has been updated to correct that tonight’s game is in Medicine Hat.
