Vilches homers twice in Mavericks rally over Fort McMurray

Right fielder Jordan Dray took the second pitch he saw from Tyler Moskalyk over the fence in the third inning, a solo home run to put Medicine Hat ahead 1-0.

Any momentum from the Mavericks was quickly quashed in the following inning, as the Giants loaded up the bases for Mike Bowes.

Getting a hold of an Alex Dafoe offering, the Fort McMurray outfielder made no mistake for the grand slam to give the Giants a 4-1 lead heading to the bottom of the fourth.

Medicine Hat was quick to stop the bleeding however, as Dray and Julien Ly each drove in runs to cut the Giants lead to just a single run.

A wild fifth inning was in store for the Mavericks, with Sal Rodriguez leading things off with his fourth home run of the season, a solo shot to tie the game at 4-4.

The next batter up was Nolan Rattai who also came through with his first home run on the campaign, finishing his day a double short of the cycle and giving the lead back to Medicine Hat.

Vilches made sure to join in on the parade of long balls two batters later, clearing the wall in left field with another solo home run to give the Mavericks a 6-4 advantage.

According to Vilches, he wasn’t locating the ball well in his earlier at-bats and decided to simplify his game at the dish.

“Honestly, I wasn’t feeling great,” said Vilches. “For some reason I couldn’t pick up the ball well, so I told myself I wasn’t going to swing unless I absolutely knew I could hit it hard. After the first at-bat, I was like, ‘I can’t swing at anything not right over the plate.’ So, I was just battling and got what I wanted.”

Not ready to roll over and end their series on a sour note, Fort McMurray tied up the game at 6-6 the following inning with an RBI single from Tristan Richardson to bring home a pair of runs.

The Giants briefly re-took the lead thanks to a fielder’s choice RBI from Drew Dickerson, but the Mavericks responded with back-to-back triples from Rattai and Louie Canjura, with the latter scoring a run.

In another tied game, Vilches walked up to the plate and homered for the second time on Sunday, bringing himself and Canjura around to score and give Medicine Hat a 9-7 lead.

Mavericks head coach Andrew Murphy said it’s been a long time coming for Vilches, who finally had his breakout game in a Medicine Hat uniform.

“I’ve been waiting for Vilches to do that for a while,” said Murphy. “But, every guy I feel like has the chance to hit the ball out of the yard and a lot guys did it today.”

Fort McMurray made it interesting in the ninth inning with a solo home run from Liam Rihela, but closer Tyler Shumpert was able to strike out the final batter he faced to give the Mavericks the victory.

Home runs were the story of Sunday’s game, as the Mavericks and Giants combined for seven long balls and 27 hits.

Rodriguez said the team is striving for more consistency early in games, but is glad to know they have the ability to battle back if needed.

“We came out, fell behind just a little bit early,” said Rodriguez. “But, it’s kind of been the story of the past few games, we battled back there. Once we get to the starter, I truly believe that’s when we thrive and we took care of it today.”

Vilches finished the game with a two hits and three RBIs, while Rattai and Dray each had a trio of hits in the win.

The victory ended up going to Barry Caine who threw two innings of shutout ball, while Mavericks starter Dafoe was pulled after the fifth inning with four earned runs allowed on seven hits.

Improving to 29-6 on the year, the Mavericks keep pace with the Okotoks Dawgs in the West Division, who won their ninth straight game over the Yorkton Cardinals on Sunday.

Embarking on a short, three-game road swing in Brooks on Monday night, the Mavericks will face the Edmonton Prospects for a pair of games before returning home to battle the Bombers on Friday night.

by Scott Roblin

Vilches homers twice in Mavericks rally over Fort McMurray

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