NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat Mavericks centre fielder Braden DeSonia swipes second base Thursday night in the Mavericks 8-5 loss to the Weyburn Beavers at Athletic Park.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
The Medicine Hat Mavericks continue to walk the line of making the WCBL playoffs heading into the final weekend of the season.
The Mavericks still held onto the fourth and final playoff spot in the WCBL’s East division heading into Friday’s contest at Athletic Park against the Weyburn Beavers. A win Friday or Saturday when the Mavericks host the Moose Jaw Miller Express to wrap up the regular season, and they’re in the playoffs.
A Beavers’ loss Friday or in either of their double-header games Saturday in Swift Current against the 57’s would also clinch the Mavericks playoff position. If the Beavers win outright and the Mavericks fail to pick up a victory, the clubs would be tied at 17-39 forcing a tiebreaker.
Mavericks head coach Tyler Jeske said they as a team control their fate and it is up to them to maintain control.
“Friday’s a big one, I appreciate all the fans that came out tonight, looking forward to hopefully what is a big crowd that can give us a home field advantage and make Athletic Park rowdy, because Friday is the season to me. We cannot give up control of our destiny,” Jeske said after the Mavericks 8-5 loss to the Beavers Thursday night at Athletic Park. A win in that contest would have sealed the deal for the Mavericks but they could not climb back from an early 2-0 deficit.
Jeske said he hasn’t thought about how he’ll approach the Mavericks game Saturday if it becomes a must win to make the playoffs, as he’s focused on Friday.
“I’m looking at this as it’s one day at a time, one day at a time. If we take care of business Friday, we control our destiny at that point and Saturday becomes irrelevant,” Jeske said. “If we get to Saturday, then and we’re having this similar conversation as Friday night, then we’ll have to figure it out.”
Ethan Bromley pitched in Thursday’s loss for the Mavericks but when he was on the bench was making sure his teammates stayed energized and engaged. The 23-year-old said the team is a little tired as the season is coming to a close which is why he tried to keep everyone up.
“It would have been a big one (to win) for sure. Obviously clinch the playoffs and set us up for the next two games, so it’s hard to swallow,” Bromley said. “The whole time, it feels like you’re trying to get on dudes and get them bought in, so it’s all we can really do.”
He said the Mavericks need to bring some swagger to the park Friday and Saturday as they make that final push to get into the playoffs. Bromley said he’s looking to his fellow pitchers to have some good outings to help get the job done.
“All of our arms are hot, which is exciting, so we really can go to anyone at any time,” Bromley said. “Our pitchers have been great as of late, so if they can just be ready to go I think we will get the result we want.”
Friday’s game was not finished by time of press, visit medicinehatnews.com/sports for a full game story on that game and Saturday’s contest.
After a league wide day off on Sunday, the WCBL playoffs get underway Monday with the first-place teams in each of the East and West divisions taking on the fourth seed, and the second- and third-place teams facing off against one another.
Entering Friday’s contests, the playoff matchups would be the Mavericks taking on the first-place Regina Red Soxm with second-place Moose Jaw and third-place Swift Current battling it out in the semis.
