NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat Mavericks left fielder Ryan Dousette rounds second base for third in the Mavericks 4-2 win Sunday afternoon at Athletic Park against the Moose Jaw Miller Express.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
The Medicine Hat Mavericks are halfway through what will be the busiest stretch of their 56-game season.
The Mavs’ 4-2 win at Athletic Park on Sunday against the Moose Jaw Miller Express marked the halfway point of a 10 games in nine days stretch that will wrap up Thursday in Weyburn.
Medicine Hat has a record of 3-2 through the first five games, not including Monday night’s 8-5 loss at Athletic Park against the Miller Express.
Assistant coach Kevin Mitchell says they’ve talked a lot as a team about bringing energy every game, something he saw in Sunday’s win.
“When we have that (energy), we’re a pretty good baseball team,” Mitchell said. “The trick has been getting them to bring it every day. It’s what we keep preaching and what we keep talking about. That’s just going to give us more comfortable wins like this.”
The Mavericks led 2-0 after a first-inning two-run home run from third baseman Nathan Tarver and held the Miller Express to two runs while scoring a run in the fourth and sixth innings.
Dylan Esquival took the bump Sunday, striking out seven batters in his six innings of work, allowing only one run on five hits. Dylan Weaver came out of the bullpen and worked two innings, allowing one run and striking out two. Matthew Krall picked up the save with a strikeout in the ninth.
The Mavs only surrendered two walks and were errorless, a stark contrast to a 12-4 loss to Moose Jaw on Saturday, where Medicine Hat committed six errors and offered nine free passes. The Mavericks picked up the victory Friday in Moose Jaw, winning 6-2.
The Mavericks have committed the most errors (47) in the league and given up the third most walks (118), numbers that will need to improve to see long-term success. But limiting those issues is a key point of the team’s game-day approach.
“That’s our winning recipe and so far, on this stretch of games we are on, the proof is in the pudding with us. If we can hold teams under five walks and we have less than three errors as a team, we have a really good chance to win,” Mitchell said.
Sunday’s win put the Mavericks back at .500 (12-12) entering play Monday, good for second place in the East division, trailing the Miller Express by 2.5 games. It took the 2022 Mavs until July 7 to reach the 12-win mark.
The club is looking to put together a stretch of wins, having struggled thus far to win a second or third straight. Mitchell says it’s about getting addicted to winning and the feelings that go with success.
“After (Sunday’s) game we talked about how good it feels and the energy and the vibes and they’re so wonderful that we just want to do that and get addicted to it,” Mitchell said. “Let’s remember that feeling and let’s have it again.”
The Mavs are in Regina tonight for a double-header against the Red Sox to make up for a June 1. The first game gets underway at 6:05 p.m. with the second slated for 8:05 p.m. After that, they’ll travel to Weyburn for a two-game set against the Beavers on Wednesday and Thursday, wrapping up their busy stint.
Mitchell says the remaining four games across three days are an opportunity to get into a good spot for the rest of the season.
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“It’s about making the rest of the stretches against our conference,” Mitchell said. “We have a chance to really make some noise these last five games of a stretch. We think we can compete with anybody in this league, especially on our side of the league. So if we go have a really successful road trip we can go into an off day feeling good after a really tough nine days.”
Med Hat Fire Dept. wins charity game
The Medicine Hat Fire Department came out on top in the ‘Battle of the Badges’ charity softball game over the Medicine Hat Police Service, winning 12-10.
The Fire Department holds a 4-3 record over MHPS in the last seven games.
“I caught one play and the shortstop made a leaping catch that was really impressive and almost doubled the guy off at first,” Mitchell said about the charity game. “There was a great crowd for that game and coach (Chad) Martin was out there as umpire. It’s awesome they can do that for the community.”
