NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat Mavericks catcher Jaden Babiuk squares up a pitch for a two-run single in the Mavs' 3-0 Game 2 win Thursday night at Saskatoon over the Berries. The win forces a decisive Game 3 Friday at Athletic Park against the Berries.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com
The Medicine Hat Mavericks entered Game 2 Thursday with the mindset of bringing the East semifinals series back to Alberta.
A decisive Game 3 is back in the Hat and it’s the Alberta team with a chance to win.
The Mavs staved off elimination Thursday night with a 3-0 win at Saskatoon over the Berries to even up their best-of-three series at 1-1, setting up a winner-takes-all Game 3 tonight at Athletic Park.
Starting pitcher Josh Landry worked eight shutout innings, allowing just five hits with 12 punch-outs to record the win. Three of Saskatoon’s five hits came in the first three innings, as Landry worked his way out of Saskatoon Berry jams to keep Medicine Hat in the lead. He says they focused on staying out of the middle of the plate.
“If we were in the middle of the zone, it was a fastball, we were in a three-ball count, four-seam (fastball) get a little rise under it, get him to pop it up, that sort of deal,” Landry said. “I wasn’t tripping when we got guys on base, because I knew we were not getting beat with the pitches.
“They had a swinging infield hit and another hit-by-pitch, so they they weren’t necessarily seeing the ball well. Knowing that as a pitcher, you have to maintain your composure, still stay on the gas, don’t change. You’re still beating them.”
Landry’s carving of the Berries allowed the Mavs to find success with limited offence, getting outhit 5-4 in the win. With the bases loaded in the second, shortstop Johnny Vulcano brought in a run with a fielders choice ground ball. They added insurance to the lead with a two-run single off the bat of catcher Jaden Babiuk in the fourth inning for the 3-0 final score.
Babiuk says the Mavs left Cairns Field with the momentum and look to flip the script in the series.
“You never want to drop Game 1, but watching sports, playing sports, you learn to face adversity, play with our backs against the wall and fight another day,” Babiuk said. “We get a shot to go back home in front of the fans and close this series.
“The home team hasn’t won yet and we’re just going to keep the energy we finished off with this entire game and just feed off a buzzing, crowded Athletic Park.”
The Athletic Park atmosphere is one head coach Kevin Mitchell has come to know fondly and intimately, winning two playoff games there last season and having two playoff runs under his belt at the friendly confines. He spoke with the team after the win Thursday and says Game 3 is theirs to take, they just have to capitalize when they can.
“Momentum is a crazy thing and right now we have it, we need to capitalize on that,” Mitchell said. “So we need to come out confident, focused, energetic and look to get out ahead of them early and keep adding on throughout the game. That’s really been our recipe for wins.
“If we can do that, it should go our way (tonight). The biggest thing, whichever way it goes early, is we just have to keep going. Guys need to stay committed to their approach and trust each other and play until that final out is recorded.”
Game 3 gets underway tonight at 7:05 p.m., tickets are available on the Mavs’ website or at the gate. The winner of Friday’s contest will face the Moose Jaw Miller Express, who swept the first-place Regina Red Sox with a 7-6 win Thursday night. That series would get underway Sunday with either Medicine Hat or Saskatoon holding home field advantage. Game 2 would be Monday at Moose Jaw’s Ross Wells Park.
