NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat Mavericks pitcher Edrian Rangel delivers a pitch during the Mavs 8-3 win Saturday at Athletic Park against the Weyburn Beavers.
In a duel with the WCBL’s last place club, the Medicine Hat Mavericks came out of top on Country night. The Mavs beat the Weyburn Beavers 8-3 Saturday night at Athletic Park. Medixine Hat came into the contest off a 7-3 win Friday at Lethbridge against the Bulls. Head coach Kevin Mitchell says it was a strong effort from his entire team but he’s looking for more as they get closer and closer to the post season. ”I told the guys after the game and I’ve told them all year long, not all losses are created equal and not all wins are created equal either,” Mitchell said. “The bar for us quite frankly is not Weyburn. I thought we could have ran the bases a little better, we could have had a little bit of a better approach at the plate and played a little better defense. “That’s the kind of stuff come playoff time, which is about a week from now, it’s going to make the difference. So obviously great to get a win at home as always, Edrian (Rangel) battled tonight and Jack Suhai was awesome coming in at the end shutting it down.” Rangel started the game and picked up the win and a quality start, pitching seven innings with three strikeouts while only allowing two unearned runs on five hits and three walks. Suhai worked the final two innings, recording two strikeouts while only allowing one run on two hits with two walks. The Mavs got on the board first with a second inning, sac fly from first baseman Andrew Savage for the 1-0 lead. They carried that lead into the fifth inning before Weyburn capitalized on an error and strung a couple of hits together for a 2-1 lead. Medicine Hat answered back in the bottom to the fifth with a two out, two-run double from Savage, giving him three RBIs on the night. The Mavs kept the offence going, playing a run in the bottom of the sixth on a RBI single from centre fielder Brady Gardner. They blew it open in the seventh inning, scoring four runs to give them eight on the night. A bases loaded walk from designated hitter Zach Stark scored a run which was followed up two pitches later by right fielder Adam Vulcano getting hit by a pitch with all bases occupied. Gardner put a bat in play into right field that the Weyburn defender made an error on to score a run before recording an out at second base. The Mavs again loaded the bases on a walk before left fielder Max Valdez drove in a run after getting hit by a pitch. Weyburn scored in the ninth but it was too little, too late as the Mavs held on for the 8-3 win. The Mavs (25-25) are back in action Sunday at Athletic Park for a rematch against the Beavers, that game gets underway at 2:05 p.m.
