Jack Muth of the Senators throws a pitch to Jose Villa of the Volcanoes on Saturday, June 11, at Volcanoes Stadium after a two-hour weather delay to the start of the game. (JOSHUA MANES/Keizertimes)
Maybe no one told Mother Nature it’s baseball season.
Week five was a wet one for the Mavericks League. All six games for the week were impacted by the rain last week, with two rainouts and the weekend consisting of two seven-inning doubleheaders pushed back by a couple of hours.
Both Thursday night’s game between the Mavericks and Campesinos and Friday’s with the Senators and Mavericks were rained out, with makeup dates to be determined.
The rain was back on the weekend early in the day on both Saturday and Sunday, but cleared by mid-afternoon enough to just push the start time of the 1:35 p.m. games back to 3:35 p.m.
With less time between games, the decision to run them like a real doubleheader, with seven inning games, was made.
The weather might have had an impact on the crowd. Just days after Volcanoes Stadium was packed for high school baseball state championship games, there were only a handful of Mavericks League fans in the stands. During the first game, fans were easily outnumbered by members of the Campesinos and Mavericks waiting for the start of their game.
Mavs and Camps Split
Starting pitcher Liam Rosebeck delivers a pitch against the Mavericks at Volcanoes Stadium on Saturday, June 11.
The Mavericks and Campesinos each won one over the weekend in a pair of close games.
On Saturday, the Campesinos, behind nine strikeouts from starting pitcher Liam Rosebeck in five innings pitched. Rosebeck allowed three hits and two runs on the day.
The Camps got on the board early on Saturday from a two-base error from Mavericks shortstop Rodny Rodriguez — one of three Mavericks errors in the game.
They added three more runs in the second and held on for a 5-3 win Saturday.
On Sunday, the Mavericks took it back with a 4-3 win.
The Mavericks scored two in the first inning with a three-hit two-out rally.
In the bottom of the sixth, Wes Engle gave the Camps a 3-2 lead when he crushed a two-run home run with two outs.
But the Mavericks responded, scoring two in the top of the seventh to take back the lead for the eventual win.
Senators Cap Volcanoes
Matt Lokken launches a grand slam in the third inning against the Volcanoes on Saturday, June 11. (JOSHUA MANES/Keizertimes)
In what turned out to be the first game of week five, the Senators crushed the Volcanoes 23-8 in a seven-inning game that took 3 hours and 45 minutes.
A 13-run third inning sealed things for the Senators. Second baseman Matt Lokken was 2 for 3 at the plate with six RBIs on the day for the Senators including a grand slam in the third.
The Volcanoes responded with five runs of their own in the bottom half of the third inning, but it was too little too late.
Lokken added three more RBIs on Sunday night, a 5-2 win for the Senators despite the team committing four errors.
Nick Renault went the full seven innings for the Senators on Sunday, allowing just two unearned runs on six hits.
The Senators move over .500 with the two wins at 7-5, just behind the 6-4 Volcanoes at the top of the standings. The Senators have won five in a row and are the first to break 100 runs scored this season.