While the AAA Mavs' season didn't end the way they wanted it to, there was lots to be celebrated. Adrian St.Onge/CHAT News

By Adrian St.Onge

SMILE SUNDAYS

‘They darn near did it’: Medicine Hat Major AAA Mavs season ends in bittersweet fashion

Aug 11, 2024 | 8:30 AM

The Medicine Hat Major AAA U12 Mavs season ended a few runs short of going to the Little League World Series.

Head coach Steve Russell said that the defeat leaves a bitter taste in their mouths, but still takes a lot of pride in putting Medicine Hat junior baseball back on the map.

“You know, at the beginning of the year, we knew we had a good team going into it.. Anything is possible, and as a coaching unit, we worked really hard to get the most out of these kids we possibly could and they delivered,” Russell said.

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The Mavs won the provincial tournament in dominant fashion, losing only once to Calgary West, before beating them in back to back games to punch their ticket to nationals.

At the nationals, they won seven games in a row representing Little League Alberta and held the top seed en route to the finals, where they faltered against Whalley Little League, who represented Little League B.C., while at the tournament in Kingston, Ont.

Still, third basemen and pitcher Beckett Lybbert said that the performance in the tournament singled out Medicine Hat as a force to be reckoned with.

“It’s pretty cool because nobody really knows where Medicine Hat is, so now everybody knows that we have good ball here and stuff. We’re a good team and then maybe they’ll see Medicine Hat teams years from now,” Lybbert said.

Second basemen and pitcher Archer Cunningham said he was focused on the game, but also taking in the experience.

“When we made it to Canadians (national championship), I cared about like the games and stuff, but mostly I wanted to hang out with my team and explore the place (Kingston),” Cunningham said.

Coach Russel said that it’s still too early to tell how far the Junior Mavs take their baseball career, but that he can envision a world where most play professionally, cementing themselves into the Hat’s storied baseball legacy.

“Medicine Hat has a history of great baseball. Never to be underestimated, but I think this group, hopefully they inject it a little bit more in that belief that these kids, even at this age, are literally a few outs, a few runs away from going to the Little League World Series,” Russell said.

“It’s not only that they are capable, but man, they darn near did it.”