NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat Mavericks first baseman Evan Morrison (22) and pitcher Danny Retzlaff celebrate Morrison's three-run home run in a 19-6 win Tuesday at Athletic Park over the Weyburn Beavers.
Medicine Hat News
Santa Claus made a mid-summer visit to Medicine Hat on Tuesday and the jolly old fellow brought the offence.
The Medicine Hat Mavericks slugged three home runs at Athletic Park en route to a 19-6 win over the Weyburn Beavers on Christmas in July night, sponsored by the Medicine Hat News. It was the Mavs’ first home game since June 29 and their return from a 4-2 road trip through the West division.
“Weyburn is team that’s chasing a playoff spot right now and we can’t take them lightly. We might be comfortable in the aspect of the standings the way things look right now, but teams are going to come in here still looking to beat you and get their wins that they need to get,” head coach Jonathon Thornhill said. “So we have to take care of our business about how you’re playing going into postseason, so I thought our response day was really good after  the off day yesterday, the long, successful road trip, lot of good ball games on the road against some good teams.
“That’s one thing about the WCBL, it’s not like there’s a catastrophic difference between a lot of teams. It’s still some good baseball and you never know what can happen.”
The Mavs offence kicked off in the bottom of the second off the hottest bat in their lineup. With a pair of runners on the bases, first baseman Evan Morrison pulled the third pitch he saw over the right field fence for a three-run home run, his league-leading ninth home run of the season. The blast was Morrison’s fourth home run in the last four games, his third three-run home run in that span with the fourth being a grand slam. He’s also tallied 13 RBIs in those four games.
“It’s just sticking to my approach, really staying short to the ball, being a team guy in the box and it’s been just working out for me so far,” Morrison said.
The Mavs added three more runs in the inning with a bases-clearing hit from second baseman Carter Roth that almost saw him score on errors by the Beaver defenders.
They added two more runs in the third, one on a sac fly from left fielder Micah Dvorak and the second on an RBI single from centre fielder Jeremy Freeman Jr.
Weyburn showed life in the fourth inning, scoring a run on a ground ball in the infield for the 8-1 Mavs’ lead.
The bottom of the fifth inning saw the Mavs score four times, with three runs coming on a calamity of Weyburn errors. The frame started with a solo home run from designated hitter Adam Vulcano, his second long ball on the season.
The Mavs had the bases loaded later in the frame with two outs. A wild pitch saw Dvorak score before an error by the Beavers’ catcher allowed Freeman Jr. to score and a second error, charged to the pitcher, allowed third baseman Tyler Vanneste to score on the play for the 12-1 lead. Weyburn finished with eight errors on the night.
Weyburn scored a second run in the game, with an RBI single making it a 12-2 Medicine Hat lead. Those were the only two runs starter Xander Roberts allowed, giving up six this and two walks, striking out five batters in six innings pitched. It was a rebound start for Roberts who was lifted in the first inning of his last start at Athletic Park, a 12-6 loss to the Saskatoon Berries on June 29. He worked 4.1 innings of relief on July 1 in. 3-2 win at Sylvan Lake over the Gulls.
“Honestly, after the Saskatoon game, it didn’t really bother me too much,” Roberts said. “Obviously, I wasn’t too happy about how it ended, but the guys had my back throughout the whole time and them having my back throughout it all really just helps me trust my stuff, and helps me to trust the guys that they will go make plays for me.”
Jensen Cockrell took over on the mound, allowing a three-run home run in the seventh and a single run in the ninth on a wild pitch. He finished with two strikeouts in his three innings of work.
After the Beavers scored three times in the top of the seventh, the Mavs plated a pair with a long home run off the bat of Freeman Jr., his first home run of the season. A welcomed sight Thornhill says for Freeman Jr. who has come close to his first home run a couple times this season.
“I’m sure it was a huge, huge relief off the shoulders of Free, especially with how far it went,” Thornhill said. “That hit the sidewalk up there and over the berm, so that was very impressive. He’s been having a good year, so him to get that was fun to see.”
The Mavs scored five runs in the bottom of the eighth for the 19-5 final, their highest scoring game of the season. Adam Vulcano drove in a run with an RBI single, followed up by a pinch-hit RBI single from Yusei Uzawa. Adam scored on a wild pitch before his older brother Aaron Vulcano drove in two runs on a single.
Medicine Hat outhit the Beavers 15-9 in the win. Weyburn stranded seven runners on base, Mavs five.
The Mavs (22-12) host the Beavers on Wednesday at Athletic Park, first pitch at 7:05 p.m.
