Mavericks embrace change of pace with summer ball

By James Tubb on June 22, 2022.

jtubb@medicinehatnews.com
Twitter: ReporterTubb

The Western Canadian Baseball League season is the representation of the saying, “a sprint, not a marathon.”

The season kicked off May 27 and runs until Aug. 6, which means squeezing 56 games into a span of 71 days. Add in rain-outs that can be added to the limited off days or turned into double headers, and it’s a lot of baseball in a short period of time.

For a majority of the Medicine Hat Mavericks, and other players in the league, they join the WCBL after their college baseball season wraps up. The collegiate season involves mostly games on weekends and sometimes one through the week.

The Mavericks just wrapped up two separate streaks of five games in five nights, a change of pace for many players.

After a 6-5 loss to the Regina Red Sox on Saturday night at Athletic Park, shortstop Adrian Salazar said the message from the coaching staff was to embrace the different schedule.

“The schedule is way different than school ball — at school ball you’re playing weekends, here it’s every night,” Salazar said. “So you have to come with the same intensity every single day, and the good part about it is, we play the next day so we gotta get over this game.”

Mavericks left fielder Austin Cappas said he was challenged by the change of pace when he played summer ball last season.

“Last summer, I experienced the same thing of the long days back to back, but it’s definitely challenging, especially going from one season to another,” Cappas said. “It’s a lot of wear and tear on the body, but it’s a lot of fun.”

He said the biggest difference for him was the loss of an hour of sleep.

“I’m from California, so we’re an hour behind,” Cappas said. “So getting that little adjustment period took a little time.”

Mavs head coach Tyler Jeske said players have to adjust to the different schedule but also the different environment.

“A lot of guys who aren’t playing at bigger schools, they’re not used to playing in a stadium with stands and having hecklers, the media attention, even social media attention,” Jeske said. “There’s a lot of influences that go into being a modern athlete that necessarily weren’t there 10-15 years ago. Guys need to adjust and learn how to do it in this environment, where the lights are bright, people care and the fans are very passionate.”

Jeske challenged his players with the message about the change in schedule and asked who could embrace it best.

“The bottom line is every night’s Friday night. That intensity of a college game doesn’t dissipate in the schedule,” Jeske said. “It’s just a question of who’s tough enough, who’s mentally capable of having that kind of focus, energy and drive to do it night in and night out.”

The Mavericks are back in action tonight at Athletic Park for the first of two games against the Moose Jaw Miller Express. Thursday’s game is the makeup contest for the rained-out game June 4. 

Fans who were in attendeance for the postponed game can use their original ticket stub to get into the game.

Both Wednesday and Thursday’s games get underway at 7:05 p.m.

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