U13 Mavs win opening game of Little League Nationals

By JAMES TUBB on July 17, 2025.

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jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb

The Medicine Hat U13 Mavs started their return trip to Kingston, Ont. and the Little League National Championship on the right note.

They put up 11 runs in three innings to beat Team Quebec 12-2 Wednesday morning in a fifth-inning mercy win for the first win of the Intermediate championships.

A majority of the U13 Mavs core played at the Little League Nationals last season in Kingston, running a perfect record before falling to Team B.C. in the final. Late travel Monday saw the Mavs get into Kingston late, but they showed no wear for the early game assistant coach Trevor Bishop says.

“The boys showed up to play, didn’t have jet lag, they got themselves going, we just got them to the park and they did exactly what we needed,” Bishop said.

Wyatt Clark started the game, working three innings allowing just two runs on six hits, striking out three. Daxton Simpson came in relief, allowing just one hit while recording three strikeouts in two innings of work.

As important as the first win is, Bishop says saving two innings of pitches with the mercy-win will pay off as the tournament drags on.

“We’ve now saved two arms that we didn’t have to use today for the sixth and seventh inning, so those guys are now available for tomorrow, that’s fantastic,” Bishop said.

Offensively, Simpson hit a three-run home run in a five-run fifth inning for the Mavs. Madden Ellis had two hits with an RBI, Beckam Sprunger had two RBIs with a hit as well.

The Mavs are back in action this morning against Team Atlantic, who lost to Team Ontario 7-3 on Wednesday. Bishop spoke with the News before heading to that game for some pre-scouting. He say they’ll look to just keep playing their game as they look to get back to the finals.

“We can’t get complacent with that, we’re looking for more,” Bishop said. “The next challenge is Atlantic and the idea would be to go at them hard, and hopefully we can pull off something very similar, if nothing else, get another win under our belt and be 2-0 to be sitting pretty good.”

Thursday’s game is at 8:30 a.m. MST and can be steamed, with a subscription, on Hometeam Live.