July 9, 2018

By Tyler Lowey

Okotoks Dawgs

MEDICINE HAT, Alta. — The Okotoks Dawgs came back to topple the Medicine Hat Mavericks 6-5 at Athletic Park on Monday.

Down two in the bottom of the ninth, the Mavericks (24-5) got within one when Zack Gray drove in Reed Odland on a sacrifice fly.

With two outs, Jordan Dray singled to centre off closer Craig Smith (Columbia College). David Salguerio tried to score the tying run, but was gunned down at home by Collin Ridout (Tennessee Wesleyan University).

With the outfield assist, Smith earned his eighth save.

All the excitement between the top two teams in the Western Division was saved for the final two innings. After the first seven innings breezed by, the eight saw a combined seven runs and eight hits, as the Dawgs improved to 2-3 against the Mavericks this season.

The Dawgs (20-10) only recorded three hits through the first seven innings. That all changed in the eighth, when they picked up five hits highlighted by a two-run double by Nate DeChaine (Morningside College), which scored Eddie Sanchez (Central Arkansas University) and Ridout. After a single by Abdiel Alicea (Tabor College), Ryan Humeniuk (Indian Hills Community College) knocked in a pair on a single to centre. Marcus Skundrich (Mesa Community College) rounded out the scoring with an RBI single.

The majority of that damage came against reliever Julien Ly, who is now 0-1 this season.

The first-place Mavericks wouldn’t go away easily in the bottom half of the eighth. With the loaded the bases and one out, the Mavericks scored a pair on a single from Nolan Ratti off new reliever Dustin Schorie (Mesa Community College).

The Mavericks grabbed an early lead in the fourth when they put their first leadoff hitter on when Carson Johnson ripped a triple to right field. He quickly came around to score on an error by Alicea.

Johnson was at it again in the fifth when he singled to centre to score Salgueiro.

The Dawgs finally got on the board in the sixth after a one-out walk to Sanchez. They picked up their second hit of the game when the Western Major Baseball League’s leader in average, Will Hollis (Cisco College) ripped a double to plate Sanchez.

Cam Doherty (Mesa Community College) went seven innings for the first time  in a Dawgs uniform and struck out three along the way, as he improved his record to 2-2.