Mavs sweep double header Friday at Athletic Park

By James Tubb on July 14, 2023.

What’s better than going into the all-star break with a win? Having two wins.

The Medicine Hat Mavericks swept their seven inning doubleheader Friday evening at Athletic Park, beating the Weyburn Beavers 2-1 in the first game and shutting them out 5-0 in the second. The doubleheader came to be after Thursday’s contest was rained out before it could even get started.

Head coach Kevin Mitchell says the two wins are important for their morale heading into the break.

“It’s great for our record it’s great for getting headed in the right direction at the right time of the year,” Mitchell said. :We still for the most part control our own destiny as to how the season goes and that’s a good feeling to have. If we can take today and build off of it and play a really strong last couple of weeks, we’ll feel really good going into playoffs.”

The Mavericks had dropped four straight games heading into Friday night’s action and were winless at home since June 26. Friday’s first win marked Mitchell’s first home win as Mavericks’ head coach.

“This was a perfect day, the fact I got my two first home wins in the same day, it’s pretty cool,” Mitchell said. “The crowd was awesome and I thought we played awesome, so it was a great day.”

Medicine Hat opened the scoring in the first game with a first-inning run on a RBI single from third baseman Nathan Tarver. The two teams shared a scoreless second frame before Weyburn scored in the top of the third for a tie game.

The Mavericks worked their way back ahead in the bottom of the fourth on a two out, RBI triple from shortstop Tyler Vanneste that hugged the right field line. Mitchell says they were looking at that moment for someone to step up and was happy to see Vanneste notch the hit.

“We were due for one of those, a big pick me up that came with two outs,” Mitchell said. “Tyler had great swings in BP today and he’s been working really hard. His first at bat he lined the ball on the left field line, so when you’re able to use both sides of the field like that, it means you feel pretty good. Felt like it was the right guy in the right spot.”

Dylan Esquival started the game for the Mavs and worked four innings of one run ball, picking up the win with seven strikeouts while only allowing two hits and three walks. Kyle Calzadiaz worked two innings with three strikeouts, walking two and allowing only one hit. Matthew Krall came into the game and registered the save while only allowing one hit to secure the 2-1 win. Mitchell was impressed with all of his pitchers in the first game and how they approached the game plan.

“Our pace was really good today on the mound, there wasn’t a lot of wasted time and that helps everybody,” Mitchell said. “It helps the defenders, it helps the hitters because they know we’re getting back in the dugout and getting ready to swing again.”

After roughly a 30 minute break in between games the Mavs opened up their second contest of the day in a big way. Leadoff batter and second baseman Brady Bean drove the fourth pitch he saw over the left centre field fence for his fifth home run of the season and an early 1-0 Medicine Hat lead.

The game moved by at a quick pace as both team’s starters were efficient and effective in their outings. Medicine Hat starter Bryce Libke went the distance, recording a seven inning, seven strikeout shutout. He cruised through a majority of the game, getting the first batter of the inning out in all but one frame. He ran into trouble in the top of the fifth when a walk and an error put runners on second and third with one out. He struck out a batter and induced a ground ball to hold the Mavs 1-0 lead.

“It was real special,” Libke said. “We were down in the dumps, on a little bit of a losing stretch but we were are able to get two wins today and pitching just kept us in it. The bats were a little cold the first game but pitching kept us in it so just doing our job and the bats picked up eventually.”

After Libke held the Mavs lead in the top of the fifth the Medicine Hat bats came to life and put the game out of reach for Weyburn.

The Mavs added two runs in the bottom of the fifth on a two-RBIs single from centre fielder Brody Gardner and supplemented that with a two-RBIs double catcher Zach stark in the bottom of the sixth.

Libke allowed two hits with one out in the bottom of the seventh before a strikeout and a groundout finished the 5-0 win and the sweep.

“Bryce has been really consistent his last four or five outings, he’s been one of our best pitchers,” Mitchell said. “I know it’s been in there but tonight specifically, his stuff was electric. It was moving all over the place, looked like he could throw multiple pitches for strikes whatever he wanted to. He was loose, he was having a good time and he dominated tonight.”

The Mavs (18-22) are off for two days for the all-star break before hosting the Moose Jaw Miller Express on Monday.