BY TRUMAN BARTMAN ON MAY 31, 2024. THE MAVERICKS.COM

It was a monsoon of offense for the Medicine Hat Mavericks as they threw the Berries into a blender by scoring 20 runs to Saskatoons 7.

Let’s start with the play away from the plate and that came from John Walsh on the mound. He was dominant through his 6 innings of work striking out 5, allowing 0 runs, and only allowing 1 hit. This was a much-needed bounce-back from Walsh as he showed how valuable he is to the Mavericks staff.

It was another tough day for the Berries pitchers as Collin Plain got the start after a late starter change was made by skipper Joe Carnahan. Plain only went 3.1 innings and gave up 7 runs.

As the end of the game rolled around, the Berries turned to right fielder and lead-off hitter Payton McHarg on the mound, a move that signaled the end of the game well before the 9th. 

There was good reason for the Berries to use McHarg and the reason was once again the Maverick’s lively bats terrorizing the boys in purple and blue all night long.

The party started for the Mavs just like it the night prior, by taking the lead at the bottom of the first. It was a sacrifice fly from Jordan Phillips that cashed in Marshall Burke. 

It was also both Burke and Phillips who hit balls over the fence. Burke bombed a two-run shot to left in the 3rd and Phillips went the opposite way for his WCBL-leading 3rd home run of the year.

If I wanted to I go list every single Mavericks player who played in this game within this article because everyone had a Kodak moment in last night’s affair. But for the sake of time let’s just say the cliche “it was a full team effort” is the only accurate way to describe this one.

The Berries were able to clean the 0 off their scorecard in the 7th, but their 7 runs weren’t relevant to this game. 

That’s not to say they won’t be important moving forward. Saskatoon has had the worst possible start to this season and they’re still searching for their first marker in the win column. The Berries will travel to Weyburn to face the Beavers and they will hope to bring their scoring touch from the last three innings of this one with them. 

For the Mavericks, they host the Swift Current 57’s for their 3rd game in a row at home. The Mavs will carry a ton of momentum into Friday’s contest and will look to boost their win streak to 4 games.