NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat Mavericks infielder Tory Nelson dons his cowboy hat while loading up a throw to first base in the Mavericks 5-2 loss to the Swift Current 57's Thursday night at Athletic Park.
The Medicine Hat Mavericks cost themselves Thursday night.
The Mavericks committed five errors against the Swift Current 57’s at Athletic Park as they lost 5-2 to the visiting club.
Medicine Hat head coach Tyler Jeske said it comes down to taking care of the baseball to prevent losses like Thursday’.
“Throughout the game we didn’t take care of the baseball,” Jeske said. “Any time you finish a game with five errors you’re not putting yourself in a good position.”
In celebration of the Medicine Hat Stampede and Rodeo, much to the excitement of the 1,067 fans in attendance, both the Mavericks and 57’s agreed pre-game that all fielders, minus pitchers and catchers, would wear cowboy hats while on defence. Mavericks outfielder Christian Rush, who led the team with three hits in the loss, said it was something he had never experienced.
“I’ve never experienced anything like that back home at PA (Pennsylvania) so it was a great experience, it made the game a little looser and a lot more fun,” Rush said.
The Mavericks were in charge of the contest through the first seven innings as they struck first offensively in the third. A RBI triple from left fielder Christian Rush followed up with a sacrifice hit from centre fielder Braden DeSonia gave the Mavericks an early 2-0 lead.
Mavericks starter Garrett Nicholson held Swift Current at bay over seven innings, only allowing four hits while striking out seven batters. Nicholson said it was his best start of the year and revealed he wasn’t feeling at his peak for the start after the Mavericks late return early Thursday morning from Regina after losing 6-4 to the Red Sox on Wednesday night. He was also up early to be a part of the Mavericks float in the Medicine Hat Stampede and Rodeo parade Thursday morning.
He said battling through that told him a lot about his abilities.
“It just tells me that even when I don’t have my best stuff, I don’t feel as good as I’d like to be, I can still go out there and compete,” Nicholson said. “Knowing that I was able to throw the fastball 90 per cent of the time today and get some swing and misses and weak contact, it just really tells me going down the stretch here that I have a little left in the tank.”
Bryce Libke took over on the mound in the eighth and struck out two batters while only allowing one run to score, cutting the Mavericks lead to 2-1. Jeske said post game that Mavericks closer Nate Ewing was unavailable to pitch after still having some swelling in his throwing hand after getting spiked in the Mavs July 22 game.
The Mavericks turned to Zac Robinson in the ninth inning to close out the game when the 57’s bats woke up. Swift Current scored four runs in the inning before Jack Suhai took over on the mound to close out the ninth with a strikeout.
Medicine Hat wasn’t able to generate any offence in the ninth as Swift Current held on to hand the Mavericks the 5-2 loss.
The Mavericks are back in action Friday as they head to Swift Current for a 7:05 p.m. rematch with the 57’s.
