By Scott Roblin

Mavericks stomp Giants on Father’s Day, run win streak to 10 games

Jun 17, 2018 | 9:35 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – The streak has hit double digits for the Medicine Hat Mavericks, continuing their domination of the Western Division over the Fort McMurray Giants.

Hosting Fort McMurray for the first time this season, the Mavericks took advantage of a shaky Giants pitching staff to earn a 15-2 victory on Sunday.

Medicine Hat broke through in the second inning with five runs, led off by RBI singles off the bats of Jaxson Hooge and Julien Ly.

David Salgueiro was hit by a pitch shortly after with the bases loaded to make it 3-0 for Medicine Hat, while walks to Louie Canjura and Nolan Rattai also scored runs.

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Fort McMurray cut into the deficit with a pair of runs in the top of the third, but the Mavericks responded thanks to a Salgueiro single that scored Carson Johnson.

It remained a 6-2 lead for the Mavericks until the sixth inning where they blew the game wide open, started off with a sacrifice fly from Hooge.

Colton Wright came around the bases off a Giants wild pitch to extend the lead to 8-2, before a Reed Odland double added to more runs to Medicine Hat’s totals.

A series of errors, walks, and wild pitches allowed five more Medicine Hat runs to cross home plate in the eighth inning, with the afternoon coming to a merciful end in a 15-2 Mavericks win.

After losing their first two games of the season, the Mavericks have rattled off 10 straight wins and have vaulted themselves into first place in the WMBL’s Western Division.

Hooge was 2-for-2 at the plate with a pair of RBIs and two walks, and said it’s been an almost perfect start to the summer.

“It’s always good to come out to a new season and start playing like we are,” said Hooge. “We had the first two rough games, just trying to feel everybody out, trying to get our swings back. Then [we] get on a roll there, our pitching put us in a position to do that and our hitting… our hitting is pretty good.”

On the mound, it was another masterful performance from ace Jared Libke, throwing seven complete innings with five strikeouts, two earned runs, and three hits allowed.

Earning his second win of the season, Libke said he’s seen a difference in his game with fewer walks and more energy.

“Strikeouts are down but the walks are down, and I will absolutely live with that,” said Libke. “Just trying to get quick outs, not drive up my pitch count as much as I did last year, because that was something I really wanted to improve on.”

Seven members of the Mavericks swatted in runs on Sunday, while the team reached double digits in runs scored for the fifth time in 12 games.

Mavericks head coach Andrew Murphy said his batters are becoming tacticians at the plate and aren’t just looking for the pretty home run.

“Guys are really shortening up their swing, they’re not trying to do too much,” said Murphy. “For young guys that’s a huge deal, a lot of times when they see the bases loaded they want to hit a grand slam. But, we’ve just been doing our job trying to keep it simple.”

The lengthiest road trip of the young 2018 season lies ahead for the boys in red and white, as Medicine Hat kicks off a five-game swing in Edmonton on Monday night.

Opening pitch between the Mavericks and Prospects is planned for 7:05 pm in the province’s capital.