BY JAMES TUBB ON AUGUST 5, 2022.
The Medicine Hat Mavericks have punched their ticket to the WCBL playoffs.
The Mavericks beat the Weyburn Beavers 10-4 Friday night at Athletic Park to clinch their playoff spot with a record of 18-37. Medicine Hat came into the matchup on the heels of a 8-5 loss to the Beavers Thursday night in the Hat where the Mavericks could have also clinched with a win.
The Mavericks win came in front of 1,211 fans at Athletic Park, which Jeske said was a big part of their success.
” I could feel the energy. I mean, it starts with, we had a great crowd again tonight and that’s a huge thing for us,” Jeske said. “Obviously the goal from day one has been the playoffs and contend to win in this league. You don’t have to win the division, you just got to make the playoffs and throughout the ups and downs of the season, that’s been the consistent message. We just have to make the playoffs and it’s a great feeling. Especially knowing that everybody goes back to 0-0 come Monday.”
On top of clinching the playoffs, Friday’s win was a special contest for Mavericks centre fielder Braden Desonia who tied and one pitch later, set the WCBL single season stolen base record with five swipes in the game for a total of 41 on the campaign.
DeSonia channeled his inner Rickey Henderson, the MLB’s all-time steals leader, by picking up the base in celebration after recording the record steal. He said Friday was the second time he had stolen five bases in a single WCBL game and was a special moment.
“That was a pretty awesome moment for me, I’ve never done anything like that before,” DeSonia said. “I felt really lucky.”
Zac Robinson started the game for the Mavericks and pitched six innings with four strikeouts to pick up the win on the mound. Isaiah Bartels came in relief in the seventh and pitched the last three innings with three strikeouts.
Neither team cracked the scoreboard in the first four innings as Weyburn was the first one on the board with a run in the top of the fifth. The Mavericks answered back in the bottom of the frame with RBI singles from left fielder Christian Rush, who later scored on a wild pitch, DeSonia and designated hitter Hunter Cooper to jump ahead 4-1.
Rush said Friday’s win was an awesome experience to be a part of on the field.
“It was really nice to have the fans behind our back, it gave us some energy,” Rush said. “That just proves to them, what we are about and shows them that we can we can really play this game and we can do something in the playoffs.”
Weyburn scored two runs in the top of the sixth on a two run home run that was quickly answered back by two runs in the bottom of the inning by Medicine Hat. A RBI triple from Rush who then scored on a passed ball put the Mavericks up 6-3.
After the Beavers scored a solo home run in the seventh the Mavericks flexed their offensive muscles in the eighth by putting up eight runs. A sacrifice hit from Rush started the frame before DeSonia hit a two run single that set up his two stolen bases to set his record. Cooper knocked DeSonia in with a RBI single to cap off the Mavericks 10-4 final score.
Jeske said he was ecstatic for DeSonia for setting the record and being rewarded for the work he’s put in this season.
“Huge congratulations to him, when you look at it, the season he’s had and the role that he’s played, it’s been huge,” Jeske said. “He’s showed all five tools throughout the year and it’s a huge accomplishment. Forg (assistant coach Michael Forgione) put in a lot of work with base runners and taking that and run with it.”
The Mavericks(18-37) have one more contest in their regular season as they host the Moose Jaw Miller Express at Athletic Park on Saturday. Both teams have clinched a playoff spot and have their first round matches set. The Mavericks will take on the Regina Red Sox who will finish the season in first place of the East division while Moose Jaw will face the Swift Current 57’s.
Jeske said his focus for the final game is keeping guys healthy and hot for the playoffs.
“The way we’re going into tomorrow is number one, keep everyone healthy and number two, the goal is to utilize our depth next week starting on Monday,” Jeske said. “We’re going to have quite a few arms go through and tow the rubber and we’ll live and die by it. But the idea is, we want to have a full bullpen and we want to have a full roster come Monday.”
Saturday’s regular season finale gets underway at 7:05 p.m.
Game Date: 08/05/2022
Weyburn Beavers 4 AT Medicine Hat Mavericks 10
YTD YTD
Weyburn AB R H BI AVG MedicineHat AB R H BI AVG
Dauphinee, R LF 4 1 1 0 .293 Dell, D RF 4 2 3 0 .294
Dalman, C 3B 2 0 0 0 .279 Rush, C LF 5 2 2 3 .319
Machibroda, N 1B 4 1 1 2 .288 Desonia, B CF 4 2 4 3 .348
Mayencourt, B P,RF 3 0 1 0 .231 Cooper, H DH 5 0 2 2 .294
Loveridge, K SS 4 1 1 0 .125 Ewing, N SS 5 0 0 0 .217
Wilson, L C,RF 4 0 1 0 .333 Boylan, H 1B 5 0 1 0 .224
Hernandez, P DH 3 1 2 1 .197 Ventura, R 3B 4 0 1 0 .230
McLellin, K C 1 0 0 0 .214 Stark, Z C 2 3 1 0 .200
Steirt Couture, CF 4 0 1 1 .222 Nelson, T 2B 3 1 0 0 .224
Baker, W 2B 4 0 0 0 .190
33 4 8 4 37 10 14 8
Weyburn 0 0 0 0 1 2 1 0 0 - 4 8 0
MedicineHat 0 0 0 0 4 2 0 4 x - 10 14 0
2B--Dauphinee, R LF (6), Hernandez, P DH (5), Dell, D RF (3), Desonia, B CF
(11), Ventura, R 3B (5). 3B--Rush, C LF (2). HR--Machibroda, N 1B (7),
Hernandez, P DH (2). RBI--Machibroda, N 1B 2 (43), Hernandez, P DH (14),
Steirt Couture, CF (2), TOTALS 4 (0), Rush, C LF 3 (9), Desonia, B CF 3
(42), Cooper, H DH 2 (13), TOTALS 8 (0). HP--Dalman, C 3B (5), Nelson, T
2B (5). SB--Dell, D RF (9), Rush, C LF (3), Desonia, B CF 5 (41).
LOB--Weyburn 5, MedicineHat 8. DP--T. Nelson(2B) - N. Ewing(SS) - H.
Boylan(1B).
YTD
IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA
Weyburn
Wintroub, J (L,2-5) 5.1 10 5 5 1 7 0 4.50
Armendariz, M 1.2 2 1 1 1 1 0 9.78
Mayencourt, B 1.0 2 4 4 2 1 0 7.00
8 14 10 10 4 9 0
MedicineHat
Robinson, Z (W,2-2) 6.0 7 3 3 0 4 1 4.50
Bartels, I (S,2) 3.0 1 1 1 2 3 1 2.98
9 8 4 4 2 7 2
WP--Wintroub, J (4), Mayencourt, B (3), Robinson, Z (4). PB--Wilson, L 2.
HB--Mayencourt, B (4), Robinson, Z (2). SO--Machibroda, N, Mayencourt, B,
Loveridge, K, Wilson, L, McLellin, K, Steirt Couture, D, Baker, W, Dell, D,
Rush, C, Cooper, H, Boylan, H 2, Ventura, R 2, Stark, Z, Nelson, T.
BB--Dalman, C, Mayencourt, B, Dell, D, Desonia, B, Stark, Z 2.
BF--Wintroub, J 27 (264), Armendariz, M 7 (123), Mayencourt, B 8 (49),
Robinson, Z 24 (155), Bartels, I 12 (150). P-S--Wintroub, J 99-66,
Armendariz, M 25-14, Mayencourt, B 34-17, Robinson, Z 78-55, Bartels, I
42-23.
T--2:42. A--1211
Weather: 20*C Partly Cloudy
Plate Umpire - Adam Smith, Field Umpire #1 - Marcel Rosetto, Field Umpire #3 - Levi Wagner