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Mavericks sweep Saskatchewan road trip, post best record in WMBL

Jun 30, 2018 | 12:19 AM

YORKTON, SK – The Medicine Hat Mavericks closed out their final series in Saskatchewan on Friday night they only way they knew how, with another win against Yorkton to sweep their road trip.

Medicine Hat took down the Yorkton Cardinals by a 7-4 final, earning their ninth consecutive victory and going a perfect five-for-five on their road swing this week.

It was Yorkton starting things off with the bats however, as Ryne Niemi drove one to right field to bring leadoff hitter Griffey Halle around home plate to give the Cardinals the lead after the first.

The Mavericks knotted up the contest in the fourth inning with Sal Rodriguez at the plate, who reached first base off an error from Logan Zozaya which also allowed a run to score.

Two batters later, David Vilches drove a single to centre field to score Carson Johnson, but a fielding error by Halle gave Nolan Rattai and Rodriguez the chance to make it a 4-1 game.

Halle made up for his error in the bottom half of the fourth, connecting on a triple to right field to score Matt Zannuto and Jayse Wilson to bring the Cardinals within one run.

Jared McDonald brought it back to a 4-4 game just minutes later, posting an RBI single to conclude a three-run inning for Yorkton.

Medicine Hat’s Jordan Dray came through in the eight-spot to give the Mavericks the lead for good, hitting one to centre field in the sixth inning to cash Louie Canjura for the 5-4 lead.

The Mavericks added onto that offence in the seventh, as Rodriguez got hold of an RBI single to score David Salgueiro and Johnson.

Barry Caine, Julien Ly, and Nathan Stark combined to pitch 5.1 innings of shutout baseball in relief of starter Connor Green, guiding the Mavericks to a 7-4 win.

Green was pulled in the fourth inning after allowing four earned runs on five hits, while Caine improved his record to 4-0 with his one and one-third innings of work.

Despite only going 1-for-5 on the evening, Rodriguez drove in close to half of Medicine Hat’s runs with a trio of RBIs.

Moving to a 19-3 record on the 2018 season, the Mavericks have now moved past the Weyburn Beavers for first place in the league standings.

Enjoying a day off on Saturday to return to Medicine Hat, the boys of summer return to Athletic Park on Sunday night for a Canada Day tilt against the Swift Current 57’s.

Kicking off a seven-game home stand, the Mavericks and 57’s take to the diamond at 7:05 on Sunday evening.