NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat Mavericks third baseman Tyler Vanneste celebrates his three-run home run in the second inning of the Mavs' 25-6 win Thursday at Athletic Park over the Edmonton Prospects.
The runs started coming and they didn’t stop coming from the Medicine Hat Mavericks’ bats Thursday night.
The Mavs hit the ground running at Athletic Park, beating the Edmonton Prospects 25-6 at Athletic Park. Thursday’s blowout win came the same day six Mavs were named to the WCBL all-star game, pitchers Jacob Petersheim, Jack Novak, infielders Marshall Burke and Tyler Vanneste, catcher Nick Thibodeau and outfielder Jordan Phillips.
Head coach Kevin Mitchell last back post game and could only smile while enjoying his pepperoni pizza.
“Those games are fun, as long as we stay respectful to the game of baseball and to the other team, which I thought we did tonight,” Mitchell said. “You go, get your reps in and guys did that and didn’t give anything away.”
Edmonton opened the scoring in the first with a pair of RBI singles for an early 2-0 lead. That’s as close as they got in this game.
The Mavs made up for not scoring in the bottom of the first, dropping an eight-spot in the bottom of the second.
Shortstop Johnny Vulcano kicked things off with an RBI single. That was followed up by an RBI double from second baseman Marshall Burke to tie the game at 2-2.
Vulcano scored on a wild pitch and Thibodeau played two runs with a bases loaded double to make it 5-2.
The Prospects switched pitchers to no relief as Vanneste blasted a three-run home run to cap off the eight-run inning with his third homer on the year. Vanneste says there’s a sense of pride beating a pitcher who is brought in to face him specifically as a lefty.
“That’s always something you want to see and especially, it shows those other teams in those situations if they want to try to go with their matchup but obviously it didn’t work,” Vanneste said.
All the runs scored run in the second dinning came with two outs.
Edmonton chipped back with a pair of runs in the top of the third that was answered back with three from the Mavs.
Medicine Hat got all of the offence in the frame on one swing, a three-run home run from designated hitter Brady Bean. His second long ball of the season made it an 11-4 lead.
After the prospects scored a solo run in the top of the fourth, Medicine Hat countered with six runs for a 17-5 lead.
First baseman Landon Mokris kicked things off with a solo home run, his second of the season.
Centre fielder Brody Gardner had a bases loaded RBI single and Bean was hit by a pitch with the bases juiced for a pair of runs.
Thibodeau drew a bases-loaded walk and Vanneste was hit by a pitch to force another run across. The last run of the inning came on a sacrifice fly from Mokris.
Medicine Hat sent 12 batters to the plate in the fourth, recording just three hits for the six runs and a 17-5 lead.
Mavs’ starter Aidan Lenzen was lifted after four innings, allowing five runs (four earned) on eight hits. Max Hudlow took over to start the fifth, making his Mavs debut. He recorded two strikeouts in two innings of work, allowing just a walk.
Medicine Hat added four more runs in the fifth inning.
Catcher Jaden Babiuk, taking over for Thibodeau, scored a run with a bases loaded sacrifice hit that was followed up with a two-run single from Vanneste. Quick rounded out the inning with an RBI single for a 21-5 Mavs’ lead.
They scored four more runs in the bottom of the seventh inning, jumping ahead 25-5.
Quick had another RBI single and shortstop Blake Dale, taking over for Vulcano, pulled a three-run home run down the left field line for his second home run of the season.
Lane McEachern took over in the mound for the Mavs to start the seventh inning and worked the eighth as well. He allowed one run in the top of the eighth, giving up one hit and three walks.
Mavs’ all-star outfielder Jordan Phillips was on the bench to start the game due to illness and took over on the mound in the ninth inning. He allowed one hit and recorded three punch-outs in his first pitching appearance in around two years he says.
The Mavs picked up their first 20-run win since the league transitioned to the WCBL name, with the 25-6 victory.
A collection of hitters carried the boats and logs for the Mavs who outhit Edmonton 24-10. Vanneste had six RBIs with three hits and three runs scored, Mokris tallied four hits with two RBIs and two runs scored and Bean had four RBIs and scored four times with a hit.
Medicine Hat (22-14) hosts the Moose Jaw Miller Express on Friday for the first of a three-game home series against the East division rivals.
