NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat Mavericks first baseman Landon Mokris slides into home in the Mavs' 12-9 win Wednesday night at Athletic Park over the Regina Red Sox.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
The Medicine Hat Mavericks have a strut in their step and it’s not because it’s Stampede week.
The Mavs rekindled some of the lost magic they’ve shown at times, coming back to beat the Regina Red Sox 12-9 Wednesday night at Athletic Park. It was a flip of a script from just a night prior, when Medicine Hat held an early lead that the Red Sox eventually overcame to beat them 12-8.
Centre fielder Brody Gardner led the efforts Wednesday, going 4-for-5 with three runs scored and two RBIs. Left fielder Michael Quick tallied three RBIs, and catcher Nick Thibodeau pinch-hit in the eighth and knocked a two-run home run that tied the game, opening up what was a game-winning five-run inning.
Gardner was proud of their ability to come back and shake off not only the loss Tuesday but the multiple lead changes throughout the win. He says a factor in the win was the dugout staying positive.
“Even in tough situations if you can stay loud in the dugout and just keep rooting on your guys, on our team, it keeps momentum going,” Gardner said.
Coming off Wednesday’s win, the dramatics of two comebacks in the game, head coach Kevin Mitchell says they regained some mojo with the victory.
“That’s a really solid baseball team that Regina has and I told the guys before these two games, they would be like playoffs and we’d be a battle and they absolutely were,” Mitchell said. “They got one and we got one. I’m not too surprised, honestly. But the bigger picture result, I was really happy with our composure.”
“This felt like about as big as a regular season game could be in terms of needing to have it, so really happy that we pulled it out.”
Mitchell says the Tuesday night loss was a first real blunder for the group, committing two errors with a one-run lead in the ninth and struggling to contain the late Regina push, allowing eight unanswered runs in the last two innings.
“For a game like that to come so late in the season against the team that we’re chasing in the standings was hard,” Mitchell said. “But it does provide opportunities for nights like tonight.”
The Mavs enter play Thursday holding on to second place of the East division with a 27-18 record. They’re 3.5 games ahead of the Moose Jaw Miller Express and Saskatoon Berries who are tied for third place. They were in action Thursday at Weyburn against the Beavers, who they’ll also face tonight.
Thursday’s game was not complete by press time, visit medicinehatnews.com/sports for a full game story.
