By Scott Roblin

Bulls throttle Mavericks 18-4 for first loss of 2019 season

Jun 2, 2019 | 10:44 AM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – After starting the season with a 2-0 record, the Medicine Hat Mavericks fell back to earth in a big way Saturday in their first Highway 3 meeting of the season.

Entering Spitz Stadium to do battle with the Lethbridge Bulls, the Mavericks were lit up for eight runs in the seventh inning alone in a 18-4 loss to close out their season opening weekend.

Starter Evan Sutta failed to reach four innings of work after allowing five earned runs, while the Mavericks struggled to contain the Bulls’ offence as the game went along.

After Jaret Semeniuk opened the scoring in the second inning for Lethbridge, it was Nolan Rattai tying up the game at 1-1 for the Mavericks in the third with a single driving in Collin Klingensmith.

The wheels began to fall off the Mavericks wagon one inning later though, with a Liam Vulcano sacrifice fly and a pair of RBI-singles from Dylan Borman and Ashton Roy netting four runs for the Bulls.

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Rattai was able to bring in another run in the fifth courtesy of a Bulls fielding error to close the gap to three runs, but the Bulls bats would come alive again in the bottom half of the inning.

Semeniuk singled with a man on to open the floodgates once more, which was followed by Vulcano put out to second base, and a wild pitch by Mavericks reliever Kevin Santana that brought three more runs in for the home side.

Medicine Hat’s struggles on Saturday were only amplified after the seventh inning stretch following a series of base hits, pass balls, and defensive errors that saw eight Lethbridge runs get tacked on the board.

A lone bright spot for the Mavericks came in the eighth after newcomer John Velasco crushed his second home run of the season.

Lethbridge was able to counter with a solo shot by Borman and an RBI-single from Vulcano shortly after though, capping off a dismal night at the park for the Mavericks.

Vulcano easily posted his best game of the short WCBL season with a four-RBI performance, which was followed up by three-RBI nights by both Semeniuk and Roy.

Sutta was credited with the loss for Medicine Hat, though the visiting bullpen was on the hook for allowing 13 of Lethbridge’s 18 runs on the night.

Medicine Hat’s bats fell silent as well with just six hits on the night, with Velasco being the lone Maverick to get on base twice against the Bulls.

The Mavericks will have a shot at revenge on Monday night, as they will try to stretch their record to 3-1 back at Athletic Park in the rematch against Lethbridge at 7:05 pm.