NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat Mavericks starting pitcher Edrian Rangel celebrates recording the final out of the seventh inning Monday in a 5-2 Mavs win at Athletic Park against the Moose Jaw Miller Express.
The Medicine Hat Mavericks did not skip a beat after the WCBL all-star break.
In their first action since the two-day break, the Mavs beat the East division leading Moose Jaw Miller Express 4-2 at Athletic Park. They came into the night off a doubleheader sweep Friday at Athletic Park against the Weyburn Beavers.
Head coach Kevin Mitchell says the team spoke ahead of the contest about starting the unofficial second half of the season in a big way.
“We know we’re chasing Moose Jaw and these are big games,” Mitchell said. “We’re coming off two really solid games against Weyburn, so we have a little something brewing right now. I was really pleased with our energy and our focus throughout the day. It definitely could have been the other way after a nice break but it wasn’t, the guys were here and they were locked in and ready to go.”
The Mavs opened the scoring with a solo home run in the second inning off the bat of right fielder Max Valdez. They added two runs to their lead in the bottom of the third as third baseman Nathan Tarver drove in two runs with a bases loaded double, putting Medicine Hat ahead 3-0. Tarver led the Mavs’ offence with two RBIs on one hit, left fielder Ryan Dousett added two hits and scored a run in the win.
The Mavs rounded out their lead in the bottom of the sixth inning as first baseman Andrew Savage scored on a wild pitch after a leadoff double. He finished his night with two hits, both doubles.
Medicine Hat held Moose Jaw to just six hits and stranded eight Miller Express runners through seven innings on the back of starter Edrian Rangel. The Pomona, Calif. product worked seven scoreless innings with five strikeouts while only allowing two walks and six hits. Zac Robinson took over in the eighth and worked his way into the ninth before a two-run Moose Jaw home run forced him from the game. Matt Krall entered the contest with two outs and struck out the final batter to secure Medicine Hat’s 4-2 win.
While the Mavs’ pitchers held the Miller Express to two runs, Mitchell says their offence can’t strand eight runs and expect to beat Moose Jaw again.
“We’re not going to hold them to two runs every game, we could have and probably should have had eight or nine runs in that game,” Mitchel said. “Fortunately our pitchers were able to keep it so we won the game but with runners in scoring position and less than two outs, we’ve got to score those runs.”
Monday’s win puts the Mavs’ season record at 19-22, putting them one win ahead of the 2022 team with 15 games remaining on their schedule. The Mavs are back in action Tuesday when they host a rematch with the Miller Express.
