By Mitch Bach

Dawgs bite into Mavs in eighth, hold on for late comeback victory

Jul 9, 2018 | 10:14 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB — The Okotoks Dawgs found their scoring touch in the eighth inning and never looked back.

Nate DeChaine and Ryan Humenuik batted in a pair of runs each as the Dawgs handed the Medicine Hat Mavericks a rare 6-5 loss at Athletic Park Monday night.

Medicine Hat drops to 24-5 on the season, two of those losses coming to Okotoks, while the Dawgs officially reach the 20-win club with a 20-10 record.

The combined four runs out of the two visiting players was part of a five-spot in the eighth to give Okotoks a 6-2 lead over the Western Division leaders.

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Medicine Hat made it interesting in the bottom half with Nolan Rattai approaching the plate with the bases loaded and two out. The Hat-product woke the crowd of 1,082 up with a two-run single, cutting the deficit to 6-4. Two batters later, Jaxson Hooge faced a similar situation, but popped it high into the short-stops glove to end the inning.

With one out in the bottom of the ninth, Zack Gray sacrificed himself to bring in Reed Odland for his second run of the evening, cutting the deficit to one. David Salguiero made a gutsy play after Jordan Drey took a single up the middle, but Salguiero’s bid to tie the game ended with the final out at home plate.

Prior to the eighth, the Dawgs had only collected three hits, all of which off a fine performance by Mavericks starter Jared Libke. The Saskatoon-born pitcher lasted 6.2 innings allowing just a single run before Julien Ly took the ball.

Ly tossed three straight strikes to clean up the seventh, but couldn’t contend with the Dawgs in the eighth. The Texan allowed four earned runs with one out before Tyler Shumpert approached the mound in his place.

Cameron Doherty lasted seven innings for Okotoks and although he surrendered eight hits, the Mavericks only crossed home twice on his watch. 

Carson Johnson helped the Mavs offence going 3-for-5 at the plate with two runs while Rattai finished with two RBI and a single hit.

Medicine Hat’s seven-game home-stand wrapped up with a 5-2 record, and they remain firmly in control of the Western Division by 4.5 games over the Dawgs. Now they shift their focus to a two-game series in Regina, taking on the Red Sox on Tuesday and Wednesday at Currie Field.