AAAs take Hat battle
The Medicine Hat AAA Thunder kicked off their host invitational baseball tournament with a commanding cross-town victory over the local AA squad on Friday at Kin Coulee Park.
Jack Didack, Evan Morrison, Carson Sauter and Hayden Hall all connected for 3 RBI in a 19-1 landslide victory that will serve as a tune-up for the tournament to come.
“It was good. We played well, waited for our pitches, got some good fielding and got some key hits obviously,” said AAA head coach Jeff Hall, adding they expect some strong competition out of CalWest, Brooks and Chestermere as the tournament continues through Sunday. “We’re looking to improve for this coming week because we have our Prairies up in Calgary.”
Didack, who finished 2-for-3 with 3 RBI, says he recently made an adjustment in his swing, which has helped him thrive at the plate.
“My coaches just recently fixed my swing, so I’m hitting better now,” said Didack, adding it’s been a promising season so far. “It’s going pretty good. We’re winning most of our tournaments.”
Payton Eddy collected the victory for the AAAs after holding the AAs to one run on four hits.
AA starter Evan Taylor took the loss after allowing six runs on three hits in the first.
Zac Henderson led the AAs with a 2-for-3 effort at the plate.
AA head coach John Hieb added the team will be trying to soak up experience and improve their in-game focus at the tournament with the postseason just around the corner.
“Playing against the AAAs, we expected a similar score to what happened. We were just mainly working on trying to keep our focus. The kids, they have good hearts, they play well, our batting is really good but we have a focus problem that we’re trying to overcome,” said Hieb. “We’re trying to gain experience. Our big goal is Prairies coming up in the first week of August.”
The Medicine Hat Major AAA Invitational Tournament continues with games from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and 9 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. Sunday at Kin Coulee Park.
Even the pitchers were going deep on Friday at Athletic Park.
Following Jaymon Cervantes’ complete game shutout victory over the Regina Red Sox on Wednesday, the Medicine Hat Mavericks opted to put their pitchers at the plate for batting practice before taking on the Fort McMurray Giants. While the arms stayed on the mound for the game to come, the upbeat approach undoubtedly made its way onto the diamond in the 8-5 playoff-clinching comeback victory.
“The pitchers have been working really hard all summer, so to be able to come out and hit BP, it’s something that’s fun for all of us. We don’t get to hit anymore so to be able to do something like that is pretty huge for this team,” said Cervantes, who was one of a few pitchers to go yard in batting practice. “To go back to the high school days of hitting and show the guys you can do what they do a little bit, it’s fun.”
Mavericks third baseman David Vilches added it’s always nice to see the pitchers taking some cuts, especially considering it always follows a shutout.
“We’ve got pitchers up because Jaymon Cervantes threw a shutout. Any time that happens we get the pitchers out there, and any time that happens it’s obviously good,” said Vilches, whose Mavericks were the first to punch their ticket to the playoffs with a 27-5 record. “It feels good. We haven’t really been worried about it at all. We’re just worried about the game in front of us, the next game. And we’re just going one game at a time until we get there.”
Despite falling into a 4-1 hole to Fort McMurray through Friday’s first inning, the Mavericks bounced back to steal away the lead with a four-run sixth before tacking on some insurance in the seventh. Catcher Colton Wright was 3-for-5 with 3 RBI. Jumpei Akanuma collected the victory, bouncing back to hold the Giants to five runs on six hits through seven innings. Tyler Shumpert took the save with three strikeouts and a walk over one inning of work.
“This team doesn’t like to lose. So when we get down in a ball game we have a lot of fight,” said Cervantes. “Whatever it takes to get a W, we come together and get it done.”
Ryan Dunn took the loss for Fort McMurray after allowing one run on two walks in the sixth. The Giants fell to 12-22.
The Mavericks return to Athletic Park for three more games against the Giants this weekend, at 3:05 p.m. and 7:05 p.m. Saturday, and 2:03 p.m. Sunday.