NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat Mavericks' third baseman Nathan Tarver jumps over a Lethbridge Bulls' runner after tagging him out in the Mavs' 7-6 win Thursday at Athletic Park.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
The Medicine Hat Mavericks clinched another milestone for their 2023 WCBL season.
With a 7-6 win Thursday at Athletic Park over the Lethbridge Bulls, the Mavs clinched a winning record on the season as they sit 29-25 heading into their final two games of the 56-game regular season.
Having that positive record was one of head coach Kevin Mitchell’s goals for the second half of the Mavs’ season.
“You never know how things are going to go, I don’t think we’ve lost since I spoke about that goal, so it’s awesome,” Mitchell said. “It means a lot to the guys too, it feels great.”
The Mavs had won six straight heading into their Friday night contest at Athletic Park against the Regina Red Sox. They’d also managed a hot streak of 13 wins in their last 16 games, which clinched second place for them in the WCBL’s East division and home field advantage in their first-round series, once again against the Red Sox.
Over this hot stretch of games and in Thursday’s win, Mitchell has seen his team display patience as they navigated games and picked up victories.
“It’s not just patience in an individual at-bat, it’s patience with the game and it’s staying engaged for the whole game, picking our spots and being ready to capitalize when the time comes,” Mitchell said after Thursday’s win. “I saw more of that tonight. Winning games like this that aren’t the prettiest really matters come playoff time. You have to have those gritty wins and be able to work through some mistakes and we’re doing a great job of that right now.
“The other thing when I look back a month plus, when things were not going so great for us, we don’t win a game like that. The fact we are now on the right side of those kinds of games and you can just feel it among the guys there’s no panic. There’s a lot of confidence and it’s from top to bottom.”
Adam Vulcano led the Mavs over Lethbridge with two RBIs on three hits and two runs scored. Bryce Libke picked up the win with three strikeouts across six innings of work while only allowing three runs (two earned) on seven hits. Matt Krall recorded a five-out save with four strikeouts.
The Mavs’ final two games of the regular season come at Athletic Park against their first round opponent in the Red Sox. Mitchell says while the games mean nothing in the playoff seeding, there is a psychological tone to be set while also maintaining the fundamentals of baseball.
“What I’m looking for these next few days is the stuff of winning baseball,” Mitchell said. “Keeping up that situational hitting, throwing enough strikes, playing solid defence, keeping good composure and good energy. So we’ll take it day by day and if we’re doing those things, more often than not, we’re going to come out on the right end of it.”
