NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat Mavericks starting pitcher Danny Retzlaff jumps into the arms of designated hitter Tyler Vanneste after the latter was hit by a pitch in the 10th inning, bringing in a run with the bases loaded for a 6-5, walk-off win over the Weyburn Beavers on Saturday at Athletic Park.
Medicine Hat News
They don’t ask how when putting together the league standings, each win is counted the same.
The Medicine Hat Mavericks recorded their eighth win of the season with a 10th inning, bases loaded, hit by pitch walk-off victory over the Weyburn Beavers at Athletic Park on Saturday. Medicine Hat came into the contest off an 8-1 win Friday at home over the Brooks Bombers.
Assistant coach Ryan Reed liked how the Mavs battled throughout the up and down game for the win.
“This team’s so tough and they find ways to win, whether it’s pitching, defense, offensively,” Reid said. “Tonight, Danny and Doll, they did a great job on the mound. Luis got us through three innings to save us some arms there. The offense was just tough, they didn’t give away at bats. We didn’t get the results we wanted all the time, but we only had three strikeouts. We were tough in the box, constantly putting pressure on the arms and made something happen.”
The Mavs opened the scoring with a quick run in the first inning.
Centre fielder Jeremy Freeman Jr. drew a leadoff walk, moving up to third base two pitches later on a single from shortstop Yusei Uzawa.
Second baseman Carter Roth lined a single to right field, scoring Freeman Jr. and moving Uzawa up to third. The Mavs scored just the lone run in the opening frame. They added a second tally four innings later, with a solo home run.
Left fielder Micah Dvorak drove the second pitch he saw over the right field wall, recording his third home run of the season, giving Medicine Hat the 2-0 lead after five innings.
Mavericks’s starter Danny Retzlaff was pulled ahead of the sixth inning, allowing just four hits and two walks, striking out eight in his second start of the season.
Luis Diaz worked three frames, allowing five runs (four earned) on three hits and a walk, striking out three batters.
The Beavers, after being held to just the four hits through five innings, struck in the sixth. Third baseman Trevor Dale blasted a two-run home run, made possible by a throwing error on the previous batter to put a runner on for the slugger.
Medicine Hat grabbed a brief lead in the seventh inning on a sacrifice fly from designated hitter. Tyler Vanneste. He plated Dvorak with a fly out to left field.
Dale capitalized again later in the game, making use of the long ball. With runners on first and second after a single and walk, the Beavers’ third baseman blasted a three-run home run to left-centre field to grab a 5-3 lead.
The Mavs clawed back in the bottom half of the inning, tying the game up at 5-5.
With two outs, catcher Jaden Babiuk and Dvorak each knocked a single to put a pair of runners on for Freeman Jr. The Chicago, Il, product doubled to right field to bring in the pair for the tie game.
A.J. Doll took over on the mound for the Mavs in the ninth, working two frames, allowing a hit and a walk with four strikeouts.
Both teams got a base runner on in the ninth but couldn’t capitalize, sending the contest to extra innings. In the WCBL, both sides start any extra inning with an automatic runner on second base.
A strikeout and a walk gave the Beavers runners on first and second with one out. Doll worked a fly out to centre field and an inning ending strikeout to give him team the chance at the walk off.
With Blake Dale on second base to start the inning, pinch running for Adam Vulcano, Medicine Hat had runners on first and second with an intentional walk to Babiuk. Dvorak moved the runners up 90 feet with a sacrifice bunt that was followed up with a second intentional walk, putting Freeman Jr. on first base to load the bases for Uzawa.
He hit a ground ball to the first baseman who got the second out of the inning at home but couldn’t try for a throw to first base, keeping the inning alive. That brought Vanneste to the plate with two out and the bases loaded. The third-year Maverick infielder stood at the ready in the batters box and was hit by the first pitch he saw, bringing in the winning run for a wacky finish to a back and forth game.
Medicine Hat outhit the Beavers 10-8, both teams committed a pair of errors.
The Mavs finish up a three-game homestand weekend on Sunday, hosting the Beavers for a 2:05 p.m. contest at Athletic Park.
