By Mitch Bach

Nine-spot riddles Mavericks in 12-0 duster

Jun 11, 2019 | 10:11 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB — Don’t mention Tuesday night’s eighth inning to any member of the Medicine Hat Mavericks moving forward.

The Fort McMurray Giants hung the Mavs defence out to dry with a nine-spot in the eighth, on route to a commanding 12-0 victory at Athletic Park.

Keith Manby pitched six shutout innings and Brady Wood collected four hits and two RBI for the Giants, who improve to 4-6 on the campaign.

This caps a strech of five-straight games between the two teams, with the Giants edging the Mavericks with three wins.

Medicine Hat, who began the game wearing special themed jerseys to recognize the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge, slip to 6-5 on the campaign and remain third place in the WCBL’s Western Division.

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It’s the Mavericks first shutout loss since Aug. 8 of 2017, when the Edmonton Prospects won 9-0 in Game 2 of the Western Division final.

All but one Giants batter collected at least a hit, with Eric Meyer going 3-for-5 with two RBI. Tanner Hess and Richard Ortiz both collected a two singles with one RBI each. On top of Manby’s six shutout frames, he also collected six strikeouts and allowed just three hits.

Mavericks starter Junior Pimentel was a glimmer of praise on a night to forget for the home team. The second-year Mav pitched into the eighth inning, allowing three earned runs and 11 hits with four strikeouts.

Kevin Santana took the brunt end of an eighth-inning-nightmare, allowing six earned runs on four hits over just nine batters. Derek Eubanks took over from Santana to open the ninth frame.

Medicine Hat’s first hit came in the fourth inning from John Velasco — a double to left-center field. Velasco, who still has remnants of a black-eye from colliding with fellow outfielder Julien Ly on June 3, has hits in nine of 11 games this season. Nolan Rattai, Reed Odland, Carson Pope, and Collin Klingensmith also collected hits.

For a complete look at the game’s stats, click here.

Medicine Hat has a quick turnaround for their next game at Athletic Park, welcoming the Brooks Bombers on Wednesday (7:05 p.m.).