NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat Mavericks pitcher Dylan Weaver celebrates the final out of the Mavericks 8-7 Thursday night at Athletic Park against the Swift Current 57's.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
The Medicine Hat Mavericks continue to bounce back.
The Mavs beat the Swift Current 57’s 8-7 Thursday in front of a crowd of 1,842 at Athletic Park, coming off a 7-6 loss at Okotoks against the Dawgs on Wednesday.
Head coach Mark Goodman said after Thursday’s win they had played better baseball across those two games and says it’s paid off.
“It’s huge that guys have bought into what we were talking about the other day and we still have a lot of games left on this stretch,” Goodman said. “But if we continue to play like this, we’re going to be just fine and we should come out on top here. But the fact that we’re buying in and sticking to our plan, is the best thing.”
A big part of that plan was limiting free trips on the base paths, meaning fewer walks and errors, as they are worst in the league in both categories. Mavs’ pitchers only allowed three walks against Swift and the defence only committed one error.
The Mavs opened a four-game set against Moose Jaw on Friday while continuing their stretch of 10 games in nine days. Medicine Hat won 6-2 on the road, see medicinehatnews.com/sports for the full game story.
Left fielder Brody Gardner drove in the winning run Thursday, capping off a two-hit, three-RBI night that involved an early scare. Gardner collided with the outfield wall while attempting a catch early on. He remained in the game despite cutting his lip bad enough that his jersey showed blood, an effort not unnoticed from Goodman.
“Just trying to catch a ball off the wall and he puts his teeth through his lip but still plays a game and still plays it hard, that was awesome for him,” Goodman said. “He could have easily been out of the game, so good for him for being a tough guy for us.”
Dylan Weaver recorded the win coming out of the bullpen, notching four strikeouts over the remaining 2.1 innings. He says the Mavericks have to build off the momentum and they’re looking to have a big weekend.
“We played two pretty sound games the last couple days, we just want to keep the momentum going,” Weaver said. “Have the whole team working on all cylinders – hitting, pitching, fielding – you want to have all three of those things working very well. It worked well tonight and now it’s about keeping it rolling for the next few days through a good opponent in Moose Jaw.”
The Mavs host the Miller Express on Saturday and Sunday before heading to Regina for a double-header against the Red Sox.
Police vs. Fire game Sunday
The Mavericks are hosting the annual softball game between the Medicine Hat Police Service and Medicine Hat Fire Department on Sunday. That game gets underway at noon ahead of the 2:05 p.m. first pitch in the Mavs’ game.
