Written by Jay D Haughton Thursday, Jul 06 2023
The Moose Jaw Miller Express and Okotoks Dawgs put on a show for the 500 fans in attendance at Ross Wells Park on Wednesday night with a combined seven home runs being hit.
Moose Jaw was able to outlast the Dawgs with the 9-5 win, thanks to three home runs of their own and a game-saving catch by Nate Mensik in the eighth inning.
The win was their fifth in a row and now Moose Jaw improves to 20-10 on the season. It also extends Moose Jaw’s lead to five games in the Western Canadian Baseball League’s East Division.
The home team got off to the start they were hoping for against the league’s top team in the bottom of the first inning.
The first batter up for Moose Jaw, Nate Mensik would blast a homerun to right center field for his first of the season, giving his team the early 1-0 lead.
Four batters later, with two men on base and only one out, Chaz Poppy would hit Moose Jaw’s second home run of the inning, and just like that the Miller Express were out in front 4-0 after one inning.
After a one-two-three top of the second inning, the Miller Express would tack two more runs onto their lead.
With runners on second and third, a wild pitch by Dawgs starter Ryan McFarland would score Thomas Soto and then a single by Austin Gurney would score Nate Mensik to make it 6-0.
Both teams would exchange runs in the fourth inning, as Noah Crowell would hit a solo home run to make it 6-1. In the bottom of the fourth, Nate Mensik would blast his second solo home run of the game to extend their lead to 7-1.
Okotoks wouldn’t go away, as they began to pick away at Moose Jaw’s lead.
The very next inning, Conner Stewart and Trent Lenihan for Okotoks would hit back-to-back solo home runs to cut their deficit to 7-3.
In the top of the sixth inning, Connor Crowson would join in the fun and crushed a ball over the left field wall for the seventh home run of the game to make the score 7-4.
The Dawgs would cut the deficit to two in the top of the eighth inning after Canon Reeder would hit an RBI double to score a run and just like that it’s 7-5.
Two batters later and with men on base, Brendan Luther would crush a ball into the gap in right-center field, but Nate Mensik would make the game-saving catch to get the third out and end the inning.
Moose Jaw would tack on two runs in the bottom of the eighth to put the game away and would go on to win 9-5.
Matt Vasquez picked up his fourth win of the season, pitching five innings, allowing seven hits and three runs, while striking out four.
Aside from Mensik’s two home runs, Dougie Delacruz would pick up three hits, while Thomas Soto had a two-hit night.
Moose Jaw will welcome the Weyburn Beavers on Friday night for a doubleheader starting at 6:05 p.m.
VIA: https://www.discovermoosejaw.com/articles/miller-express-defeats-okotoks-in-home-run-showdown