Mavericks stretch win streak to five, sweep Millionaires in dominating fashion

The Mavericks jumped out to an early lead just as they did in the first two games, leading 3-0 after the first inning after a pair of RBI doubles from Sal Rodriguez and Colton Wright.

Rodriguez struck again in the second inning for Medicine Hat, skying one deep to the outfield for a sacrifice-fly for his second RBI of the day and the Mavericks’ fourth run of the game.

Medicine Hat’s best inning came in the third, which was opened with a single from catcher Reed Odland that brought Cameron Pope home to score.

Austin Sojka subsequently hit into a fielder’s choice that scored Hunter Cooper, before Collin Klingensmith continued his hot play of late with a clutch triple to score a pair.

Leading by an 8-0 count at this point, Medicine Hat added two more runs off a single from Rodriguez and a wild pitch that allowed Nolan Rattai to come home.

Struggling offensively with just two runs to their credit all series, the Millionaires finally got their first runs of the afternoon in the fifth inning following a throwing error by Mavericks third baseman Zachary Stark.

Medicine Hat got its swagger back in the bottom of the seventh though, as Klingensmith saw a juicy fastball come his way with no one on.

“A two-strike count, I was looking to move the baseball hard and let it get deep,” said Klingensmith. “I put the bat on it and there it went.”

Klingensmith’s solo home run extended the Mavericks’ lead to nine, which was quickly followed up by an RBI single off the barrel of Pope to boost Medicine Hat’s lead to double-digits.

In total, Medicine Hat racked up 18 hits on the afternoon and got on base 58 times over the course of the series from the plate.

“We all had a lot of fun for sure,” said Klingensmith. “It was loose, a good confidence booster going into these final games and then heading off into playoffs.”

The Mavericks platooned their pitching staff on Sunday with six different pitchers getting time on the mound, which was led by starter Derek Eubanks and his two innings of one-hit baseball.

Newcomer Liam Rosebeck shut the door over the final two innings of play, posting zeros across the board with no hits and no runs allowed against six batters.

Posting their best weekend of the season offensively against a slumping Millionaires squad, Vessella said the team’s bats should expect an even tougher battle in their upcoming opponents.

“Lethbridge has some really good arms, Okotoks has some really good arms, Fort McMurray has some really good arms,” he said. “So, it’s going to be a different quality of opponent coming up next. Hopefully, this is a good stepping stone because all these guys know that it’s going to get harder.”

Sunday’s win gave Medicine Hat its fifth consecutive victory, while the surging team has won seven of their last eight contests.

That’s vaulted the Mavericks into sole possession of second place in the WCBL’s Western Division with a 27-21 record entering the final eight games of the regular season.

“It’s a big eight games, it’s a really big eight games,” said Vessella. “I hope that guys are going to be aware that playoffs basically start now. Do you want to be in control? I don’t want to go on the road, I want to stay at home, I want to play in front of these fans.”

Medicine Hat’s schedule features only divisional games the rest of the way out, beginning with a pair of road games in Lethbridge and Okotoks on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The Mavericks return from their road swing on Thursday to kick off a four-game home stand starting with the Fort McMurray Giants at 7:05 pm.

by Scott Roblin

Mavericks stretch win streak to five, sweep Millionaires in dominating fashion

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