MOOSE JAW -- The Moose Jaw Miller Express have had their share of success against the Medicine Hat Mavericks this season, and that continued on Friday night in Medicine Hat.
Moose Jaw held an 8-7 lead heading into the eighth inning when they sent four runs across the plate, taking a 12-7 victory in Western Canadian Baseball League action. Other games saw the Saskatoon Berries drop a 5-3 decision the Lethbridge Bulls, the Regina Red Sox fall 7-3 to the Okotoks Dawgs and the Swift Current 57’s take a 2-1 win over the Weyburn Beavers.
Moose Jaw 12, Weyburn 7
Will Edwards was swinging the big bat for Moose Jaw, going 3-for-5 with a pair of home runs, including a three-run shot in the eighth inning rally. He’d also score a pair of runs and knock in six.
Andy Rivas homered and knocked in three runs for Moose Jaw, while Thomas Soto was 3-for-5 with a double, three runs scored and two RBI. Ben Waliczek also scored a pair of runs.
Jeremy Freeman Jr. went 4-for-6 with two runs and two RBI for the Mavericks, Micah Dvorak was 3-for-5 with two runs scored.
Joe Gutierrez started for Moose Jaw and allowed a single unearned run on four hits over three innings, Cristian Garcia was the winning pitcher after allowing a single earned run while pitching the fifth and sixth.
Danny Retzlaf allowed five runs, three earned, on eight hits over six innings as Medicine Hat’s starter, Diego Centella allowed three runs in the seventh and took the loss.
Moose Jaw is now 18-24 and five games back of Regina in fourth place in the East Division, Medicine Hat drops to 26-16 and remain 8 ½ games back of first-place Saskatoon.
Lethbridge 5, Saskatoon 3
Two runs in the second and three in the fifth were enough for the Bulls to sneak past Saskatoon on a night where the Berries potent offence wasn’t quite feeling it.
Cooper Wesslund and Mason Roell were the only Saskatoon players with multiple hits, putting up two apiece. Wesslund, Ethan Menard and Evan Janner scored their runs in the first, third and sixth innings.
Lethbridge only had five hits themselves, with Will Turner providing a big one with a two-run home run.
Brett Getz had a quality start and picked up the win for the Bulls, allowing three runs on seven hits over six innings and striking out five. Donovan Gamez pitched a scoreless ninth to earn the save.
Matt Whitney started for Saskatoon and allowed four runs on five hits over four innings, Robert Bonilla pitched the fifth, allowed an unearned run, and took the loss.
Saskatoon falls to 34-7 and hold their comfortable lead atop the East, Lethbridge improves to 24-15 and sit second in the West.
Okotoks 7, Regina 3
The Dawgs took a 3-2 lead into the sixth inning before picking up what would stand as the game-winning run and then added three more in the eighth to secure the win.
Rafael Jackson went 2-for-4 with a home run for the Red Sox, while Brady Bye had a solo round tripper as his lone hit. James Wright was 2-for-4 with a double and a run scored.
Kadyn Williams went 2-for-4 with two runs scored for Okotoks, Leo Cote and Jason Arriola each knocked in a pair.
Jase Wessels started and went four innings four the Dawgs, giving up a single unearned run on five hits and was the winning pitcher.
Blake Johnson allowed three runs on five hits over five innings for Regina while striking out seven and taking the loss. It was only the second time in eight starts that Johnson had allowed more than two earned runs in a game, with his earned run average jumping to 1.81 on the season.
The Red Sox are now 22-18 and remain three games back of Medicine Hat, Okotoks is 30-14 and lead the West by four games over Lethbridge.
Swift Current 2, Weyburn 1
The 57’s and Beavers haven’t seen a lot of pitching duels this season, but Friday night was one of them.
Ryker Ratcliff ended up getting the better of it, picking up the win after allowing a single run over six innings while giving up four hits and striking out four against three walks.
The lone run Ratcliff allowed came in the first inning, and that 1-0 lead would hold for Weyburn until Wilmer Henriquez hit a two run home run in the sixth to give the 57’s the lead for good.
That blast was the only blemish on Beavers starter Dylan Parton’s record, as he’d toss a complete game and give up only three hits while striking out eight and walking none.
Once Swift Current had the lead, Jancarlos Rodriguez pitched the seventh and eighth and scattered three hits while striking out four before Chase Cummins tossed a scoreless ninth to earn the save.
Ian Heck knocked home Ryan Muizelaar with Weyburn’s lone run in the fourth.
Braxton Vail doubled earlier in the sixth for Swift Current before scoring on Henriquez’s home run.
Swift Current improves to 9-31 and are 1 ½ games back of Weyburn in sixth place. The Beavers drop to 11-30 and sit 6 ½ games back of Moose Jaw.
There are no games on tap Saturday night as teams gather in Okotoks for the 2025 WCBL All Star Game.
