NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat Mavericks infielder Carter Roth celebrates his fourth-inning grand slam, part of a five-hit, nine RBIs effort in the Mavs' 24-4 win Saturday at Athletic Park over the Swift Current 57's.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com
The Medicine Hat Mavericks scored in bunches Saturday night.
A pair of eight-run innings with a ‘lowly’ seven run inning propelled the Mavs to a 24-4 win at Athletic Park over the Swift Current 57’s. The Mavs’ win is tied for the third-highest scoring game in the WCBL this season. It caps off a 5-1 week for the Mavs who outscored their opponents 73-35 in the five-game win streak.
“The guys come in, work hard, play baseball, enjoy and have a good time,” head coach Jonathon Thornhill said. “It’s been very fun to watch from from day one of being her to where we are now and going into final week of the regular season. We’re playing some good baseball, taking care of things and playing clean, clean baseball. So it’s all good stuff. We’ve got one more week to do it before it really counts.”
The Mavs had 18 hits, drew 14 walks and were led by infielder Carter Roth who had five his and nine RBIs, with a fourth inning grand slam leading his tallies.
“Nine RBIs, just speaks for itself,” Roth said. “That was one of the best games that I’ve played on this field.”
The game kicked off with an eight-run first inning that sent 14 Mavs to the plate. Roth had a sacrifice fly with the bases loaded and was followed up by an RBI double from Johnny Vulcano and an RBI single from Adam Vulcano. Johnny Vulcano scored on wild pitch before Blake Dale scored two with a double. An RBI single from Jeremy Freeman Jr. in his second at bat of the inning made it a 7-0 lead, rounded out by a bases-loaded walk from Roth.
Swift Current scored a run in the top of the fourth and the Mavs answered with force, scoring seven times for a 15-1 lead.
Jamel Chabot brought in a run with a groundout, Dale had an RBI single. Tyler Vanneste drew one of his four walks on the night, bringing in a run with the bases loaded. He scored on Roth’s grand slam, his fourth home run of the season.
“That was a lot of fun, a little bit of wind ate it but got a good amount of that ball and it was a lot of fun,” Roth said.
Ryan Harney started the game for the Mavs, working four innings with the lone run against on four hits and a walk, striking out two. The planned bullpen game saw Zack Hlisnky pitched a clean fifth inning with a strikeout. Diego Centella threw the sixth inning, allowing three runs on a home run. Degan Sanders pitched two innings, his first outing at Athletic Park and second with the Mavs, striking out two while allowing a hit and two walks.
” It was unreal, it was a good feeling,” Sanders said. “I’ve never pitched in that front of that many people. It’s a different feeling, I love the energy.”
The Mavs’ second eight-run inning came in the seventh, putting them ahead 23-1.
Yusei Uzawa had a two-run double with the bases loaded. A pair of walks saw a run scored on a free base handed to Aaron Vulcano. Tyler Vanneste had an RBI single to score one run and two more scored on an RBI double from Roth.
Nate King, pinching hitting for Johnny Vulcano, Â brought in a run with an infield hit that caused an error. A groundout from Adam Vulcano scored the final run of the frame.
The Mavs scored a single run in the eighth, with an RBI single from Roth to cap off his offensive night.
The extended lead gave Vanneste the opportunity to move from designated hitter to the mound, his first pitching appearance in the WCBL. He induced a groundout before working a walk. The third-year Maverick worked a double play to end the game and give himself a scoreless outing on the mound.
” I was feeling it in the bullpen, I was like, ‘I’m throwing 100 right now,” Vanneste said. “Then I got to the mound and saw a batter in there and thought, I don’t want to hit this guy.  got locked in and it was fun.”
Thornhill jokingly shutdown any idea of Vanneste working on the mound as the WCBL playoffs near.
“I hope he enjoyed it and if we have a lead like that again, then we’ll have a conversation,” Thornhill said. “He knows his role and it’s a good memory he’ll take forward and one all of us will.”
The Mavs (31-17) get an off day on Sunday before they host Swift Current on Monday for the final home game of the regular season. They have a five-game road trip to end the regular season with the final game in Saskatoon on Aug. 4.
