Max Stagg Walks off NorthPaws!
2026-07-21
A clutch 9th inning RBI on a 5-for-5 night makes Max the Hawks Hero
Box ScoreBy Larry Read
EDMONTON, AB—Fans of the Edmonton Riverhawks can’t say they aren’t getting their moneys worth when they see their team perform at home. The Riverhawks pulled out some more late inning heroics as they downed the visiting Kamloops NorthPaws 6-5 for the second straight night at RE/MAX Field. Unlike Monday (July 20th), it was the home team winning. The West Coast League series is now deadlocked at a game a piece.
The “Aussie Assassin”: Max Stagg was the hero for the Hawks in this one. He had a two-run homer and drove in the winning run with two on and two out in the bottom of the ninth.
Stagg went three for three as the Adelaide, Australia resident helped the Riverhawks improve to 22-19 on the season and remain in contention for a post season berth. He had three runs batted in. Edmonton scored six runs on nine hits.
Kamloops falls to 16-25 on the year. They had five runs on eight hits.
Similar to Monday’s contest: fans at RE/MAX (6,808 for Tuesday’s contest), saw a see saw battle.
The Hawks rebounded from a 2-0 deficit to scores a run in the fifth, three in the sixth, added one in the seventh and the winning run in the ninth.
“The clutch factor of our team continues to shine through, ‘stated Riverhawks head coach Jake Lanferman. “I think this has been our third walk off. I thought we did a really great job to find a way to try and contain and put pressure on them. We needed to manufacture a run in the bottom of the ninth.”
The NorthPaws got on the scoreboard in the top of the fourth. # 15 Kenner Lauterbach reached first base on a ground ball to Riverhawks third baseman #39 Chris Parkin. Lauterback scored on an RBI single to left field off the bat of #22 Tate Martin on a Riverhawks starter #49 Cole Huebner. 1-0 Kamloops.
One inning later (top of the fifth), the NorthPaws took a 2-0 lead when # 16 Evan Dugdale hit a double into left field and plated when #29 Brock Grainger ground out to the Edmonton infield.
Edmonton got their first run of the game in the bottom of the fifth. #48 Max Stagg walks to start the inning and scored on an RBI double to left field by #13 Jaxon Fox. Fox hit off NorthPaws starter # 18 Chris Compton. Compton was done after that fifth inning, giving up a run on three hits, striking out two and walking three. He was replaced by #48 Kameron Sparrowhawk.
Sparrowhawk was greeted in the sixth inning by Riverhawk first baseman # 58 Omar Gonzalez. Gonzalez ripped the first pitch he saw over the fence in left field for his first WCL home run to tie things 2-2. Gonzalez was 1 for 4 in the ball game. With a run batted in and a run scored.
“It was a great game,” said the Cal State Bakersfield product. “I am glad we pulled though.”
Three batters later, with #51 Easton Andrews at second after being walked, Stagg will park the ball in the same place Gonzalez did. A two-run dinger gives the Riverhawks a 4-2 lead.
“They were kind of working around me a little bit. He threw me a bit of a change up. I got the barrel extended on it.,” Stagg said about his home run. “It’s the first one I have hit at RE/MAX so it’s pretty special.’
Kamloops evened things up in the top of the seventh. Rookie Riverhawks reliever #26 Gabe Fink-making his WCL debut- walked the first batter he faced, struck out the next two but promptly loaded the bases. Fink, from Absolute Human Performance in St. Albert, Alberta was replaced by #33 Logan Colville. Colville walked #7 Elijah Olayball to bring home #23 Mason Hensley go cut the deficit to 4-3. The NorthPaws made it 4-4 when #22 Tate Martin smacked a single to left field bringing home Grainger. Martin was the big gun offensively for the ‘Paws: 3 for 4 with two RBI.
Bottom of the seventh saw the Riverhawks taking back the lead . #23 Justin Heffler walked, stole second and scored on an RBI single courtesy of #53 Gianluca Montanaro.
#14 Nathan Ling came into pitch for the Hawks in the eighth inning. NorthPaws #28 Keegan Dinkle walked and scored on a passed ball. It’s a 5-5 deadlock.
Bottom of the ninth: Gonzalez opened it with a walk. He was replaced by newcomer #4 Aden Munoz. With two out, and the NorthPaws outfield playing deep, Stagg came to the plate and took a #25 Cristan Castilla offering into left field to bring Munoz in from third base. Castilla was the losing pitcher, falling to 0-1 on the season. He pitched an inning and two thirds, giving up a run on three hits, walking two and striking out one.
#59 Christian Garcia pitched the last inning for Edmonton and picked up his first WCL victory. He surrendered a walk.
The two teams conclude their three-game series tomorrow (Wednesday, July 22 2026) at RE/MAX Field. First pitch is 7:05 PM MDT.
“It’s been a close series so far,” Stagg stated about looking at the series capper. “We have a lot of new guys coming into the squad. They have jelled really well. They have done their job which is really nice for the guys who have been sticking it out.”
Stagg is savoring his second year with the Riverhawks. He will be leaving the ball team after the weekend to return to school at UC Santa Barbara.
“I expect them (Kamloops) to come out hungry”, Lanferman feels about Wednesday’s tilt. “They are a competitive team and they have some really good players. It is always tough when you lose the first one of a series but we are trying to continue to battle back and win series. It’s hard when you give up a two run shot in the eighth inning like we did last night (Monday). Kudos to us to continue to grind it out and not just roll over.”
Edmonton is expected throw another new arm: Sam Davis. “ He is a high school kid who committed to Virginia Tech. He’s an exciting arm. Big lefty. We will try to get the most out of him and continue to use the bullpen.”
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