NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat Mavericks shortstop Nate Ewing side steps a sliding Miller Express to make a throw to first base in the Mavericks 5-1 Game 3 loss in Moose Jaw to fall 2-1 in the East division finals series.
The Medicine Hat Mavericks season came to a close Sunday night in Moose Jaw.
The Mavericks fell 5-1 to the Miller Express in Game 3 of their East division finals series as their WCBL playoffs came to a close.
Medicine Hat jumped ahead in the series with a 2-1 Game 1 win in Moose Jaw on Friday before the Miller Express forced the deciding game after winning 7-1 Saturday night in Medicine Hat.
Mavericks head coach Tyler Jeske said he has no regrets about Game 3 or the series.
“I thought the playoff playoff performance was outstanding,” Jeske said. “From Game 1 through the ninth inning tonight, they believed, they battled and I look at it and say, there’s no regrets. We gave it our best shot. We gave Moose Jaw everything we had. They have a talented team and they came out on top.”
The Mavericks handed Moose Jaw their only loss in the first two rounds of the WCBL playoffs. They will face the Okotoks Dawgs in the finals that get underway on Tuesday.
Medicine Hat opened the scoring Sunday in the second inning. Third basemen Ranciel Ventura scored on a RBI single from second basemen Deon Reese for the Mavericks only run in the game.
Gerrit Erickson started the game for the Mavericks and pitched his way through six innings while only allowing four hits and one run to score while striking out a batter. Kam Richards took over on the mound to start the seventh and got one out before he was relieved by Mathew Krall. Moose Jaw took their lead in the seventh as they scored four runs for the 5-1 victory.
Mavericks catcher Zach Stark said he is proud of what his teammates achieved in the playoffs and this season.
“Obviously a little bit upset but I’m proud of what we accomplished this year,” Stark said. “Not being the most winning team and being able to come back and put pressure on other teams. I can’t speak enough about these guys and how well they did and how much they made stuff happen.”
The Mavericks entered the playoffs with the lowest seeding after finishing their regular season 18-38. They swept their East division semi-finals series against the first place Regina Red Sox winning Game 1 and Game 2. Sunday’s loss marks two straight playoff the Mavericks have bowed out in the quarter finals. The Mavericks lost in the West division finals to the Lethbridge Bulls in 2019.
Jeske said he sees the Mavericks as a team of competitors.
“From Day 1 they were here to compete, they played every game to win,” Jeske said. “From Day 1 to now, this was a roller coaster of a season. There were highs and lows, consistency is the word I’d go back to. The one consistency was we were inconsistent, which when you look at the youth of this roster, it’s to be expected. That’s the difference between experienced and inexperienced teams, it generally comes down to the consistency factor.”
“I look at it, these guys battled, they became a team and they fought to the very end,” Jeske said.
“Im really proud of them, everybody came to play every day,” Stark said. “Even today we came to play, obviously it didn’t work out in our favour. But I can’t speak enough about these guys and what they did today.”
