Tale of the tape shows similar sides

By Alta Newspaper Group on August 8, 2019.

The Lethbridge Bulls and Medicine Hat Mavericks open their Western Canadian Baseball League best-of-three first-round playoff series tonight at Spitz Stadium, with very little to choose between the teams.

Lethbridge (31-25) was a game head of Medicine Hat (30-26) in the West Division standings, winning the season series 5-3.

Kaleb Warden paced the Bulls’ offence this season with 12 home runs and 66 RBI, while batting .369. Ashton Roy (.343), Roger Riley (.321) and Riley Jepson (.319) also topped the .300 mark, with Roy knocking in 50. Dylan Borman was second on the team with 10 home runs, and third with 38 RBI.

Ben Erwin and Dylan Steen led the Bulls with five victories each, both with one complete game and ERAs of 2.73 and 2.83 respectively. Erwin allowed just four earned runs over his last 21 innings, while Steen hasn’t allowed an earned run in his past three starts while working 20 innings.

Collin Klingensmith paced the Medicine Hat offence with a .384 batting average, and was second to Sal Rodriguez with 34 RBI. Austin Sojka batted .341 and P.J. Garcia was .339.

Owen Steele has shone on the mound for the Mavericks, going 6-0 with an ERA of 4.37. He didn’t face the Bulls this season. Returning from last year’s championship-winning team, Jaymon Cervantes finished with a 5-3 record, and recorded two victories over Lethbridge.

The Mavs started the season slowly but turned it on in the second half. After a franchise-worst eight-game losing streak, Medicine Hat went from outside the top four to nearly taking home field advantage in the first round of the post-season.

All four WCBL first-round series begin tonight, with second games scheduled for Friday and third games, if necessary, slated for Saturday. Okotoks (40-15), champions of the Western Division, tangle with the Edmonton Prospects (29-27), who won their final seven games to slip past Fort McMurray into the final playoff spot.

Eastern Division winners Regina Red Sox (41-15) play Moose Jaw (26-30), and second-seeded Swift Current (38-18) faces Weyburn (33-22).