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By Scott Roblin

Winning Record

Mavericks sweep Bombers on the road, post first winning record since mid-June

Jul 14, 2019 | 9:33 PM

BROOKS, AB – June 12 is a day that could have changed the Medicine Hat Mavericks season entirely.

Holding a 6-5 record facing the Brooks Bombers, the Mavericks lost their sixth game of the 2019 WCBL season by a 10-5 score and saw the team fall back to a .500 record.

Finally on Sunday night, Medicine Hat climbed out of the basement of the Western Division to take down the Bombers 7-1 and post a winning record for the first time in over a month.

After taking down their rivals from Brooks on back to back nights, it was a tall task for the Mavericks to earn the sweep at Elks Stadium on Sunday.

Any fears were calmed in the first inning though, with catcher Colton Wright on designated hitter detail coming through with his 16^th RBI of the season to score Collin Klingensmith from third base.

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Medicine Hat doubled its score to 2-0 one inning later with runners on the corners, as Freddy Walker skied one out to the outfield for a sacrifice-fly to cash Tito Jones for the two-run lead.

Mavericks starter Derek Eubanks ran into some problems in the bottom of the third inning however, loading up the bases with Brooks’ Josh McIntyre at the plate.

McIntyre grounded out for the 6-4-3 double play, but that gave Danny Donnelly enough time to trot home from third to get the home side on the board.

After a scoreless fourth inning Medicine Hat was finally able to give Eubanks some run insurance in the fifth, starting with an RBI double from Nolan Rattai to score both Klingensmith and P.J. Garcia.

After Russell Strilchuck was plunked by Bombers starter Garrett Connor to put runners on the corners, Cameron Pope connected on a single to drive home Rattai to make it a 5-1 contest.

With some breathing room, Mavericks manager Tom Vessella made the call to end Eubanks’ night after five innings, zero earned runs allowed, three hits, and two strikeouts to put him in line for the win.

Mavericks utility knife Taylor Wright came into the game for his first appearance of the season on the mound, striking out two batters to blank Brooks in the sixth inning.

That would be followed up by another solid outing by relief pitcher Jon Guardado, who needed just 12 pitches to move Medicine Hat onto the eighth inning with a 5-1 lead.

Offensively, the bats kept firing for the Mavericks with Walker and Klingensmith adding to their run totals to put Sunday’s series finale completely out of reach.

Bryce Libke finished off the final two innings for Medicine Hat, as the team’s four pitchers allowed just four combined hits from the Bombers at Elks Stadium.

Leading the charge at the plate were Rattai and Garcia with a pair of RBIs each, while the lead-off man Klingensmith scored three of the team’s seven runs on the night.

Taking all three games of the series and moving into the win column with a 19-18 record, the rebounding Mavericks are winners of five straight and sit tied with Lethbridge for second in the division.

The hottest team in the WCBL, Medicine Hat heads to the hostile confines of Seaman Stadium for a pair of games against the Okotoks Dawgs on Tuesday and Wednesday.