By Scott Roblin

Wright goes deep in Medicine Hat debut, Mavs down Cardinals 10-8

Jun 30, 2019 | 7:34 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – Graduating from the University of Maryland, Taylor Wright was just looking for a summer home when the Medicine Hat Mavericks gave him a call.

Days later, he took a 1-1 count over the wall in his first game at Athletic Park to help guide the Mavericks to a 10-8 comeback victory Sunday afternoon over the Yorkton Cardinals.

Coming up just short in their own comeback attempt against Medicine Hat on Saturday, the Cardinals jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the second inning with a sacrifice-fly from Shawn Munro.

Mavericks outfielder Freddy Walker was quick to erase that deficit in the third inning however, smacking a double past the infield to score Tito Jones from second base.

A Phil Whelan home run in the fourth gave Yorkton their one-run lead back, before Jones’ first RBI in a Mavericks uniform and an Austin Sojka single scored a trio of runs for Medicine Hat in the bottom half of the frame.

IN THE COMMUNITY

Medicine Hat's Mustard Seed adding new shelter spaces at Alberta government's request

2h ago

HOLIDAYS

Medicine Hat Kiwanis hosting Christmas dinner, applications due Friday

5h ago

IN THE COMMUNITY

'Compassionate Friends' offer peer support for bereaved in Medicine Hat

20h ago

The home runs kept coming for Yorkton in the top of the fifth inning with a two-run shot from Noah Barron to tie the game at 4-4, however the Mavericks weren’t done offensively either.

With runners on the corners, Mavericks designated hitter Cameron Pope singled to score Wright from third base to give Medicine Hat the lead once again.

Medicine Hat replaced starter Evan Sutta following the sixth inning after the Miami, Florida product allowed four earned runs on nine hits, but the Mavericks bullpen showed its inexperience once again though.

A double from Whelan drove in a pair of runs to put Yorkton ahead 6-5, which was followed up by an RBI-single from Trenton Lee that brought home two more runs for the visiting Cardinals in the seventh.

Looking to rebound out of the seventh inning stretch, Wright making his third ever plate appearance for the Mavericks took Cardinals pitcher Hut Smith deep for his first home run of the season to pull Medicine Hat to within two runs.

That Wright homer was followed by another RBI-single off the barrel of Pope, scoring Nolan Rattai from second base to close the gap to a single run.

In the eighth inning, catcher Colton Wright grounded out to short stop for the inning’s second out, but not before Sojka was able to score to tie the game at 8-8.

One batter later, Rattai came through with a clutch single to drive home Taylor Wright and Collin Klingensmith to put the Mavericks up for good.

Rattai’s two RBIs on the afternoon led all Mavericks batters, but the hottest bat of the day came from Yorkton’s Whelan who was 3-for-5 with three runs and three RBIs.

Sunday’s win marks the first set of back-to-back wins for Medicine Hat since June 20 and 21, but keeps the now 11-16 Mavericks still a game back of Fort McMurray for fourth place in the Western Division.

Looking for the sweep, the Mavericks will host the Cardinals on Monday night for their annual Canada Day Game at Athletic Park at 7:05 pm.