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Northwoods Madison Mallards

Bombers outlast Mallards in back-and-forth battle

June 11, 2011 - Northwoods League (Northwoods)
Madison Mallards News Release


BATTLE CREEK, MI - The Madison Mallards were knocked off by the Battle Creek Bombers 2-1 at C.O. Brown Stadium on Saturday Night. The game was a matchup of the two best teams in the South Division of the Northwoods League, and it lived up to its expectations. Pitching was the strong-suit for both squads on Saturday, with only three runs on a combined twelve hits.

Mallards' starter Ryan Bores (Cuyahoga Community College) echoed his impressive first start of the season by going five innings. He allowed an unearned run on six hits while walking one and striking out five. Like Cash Collins (Wofford) a night ago, Bores got out of some tough jams early by staying focused and hitting his spots. "Cash set a good example for Ryan yesterday," said Mallards' field manager Greg Labbe. "Ryan went out there and kept us in the game all night."

Bores did not factor into the decision.

The Mallards were held in check by three Bombers' pitchers.

Starter Joe Battistelli (Eastern Michigan) went six innings, allowing one run on three hits. He walked four and struck out five. Like Bores, Battistelli did not factor in the pitching decision.

Earning the win for Battle Creek was Austin Tukey (Minnesota). Tukey came on for the Bombers in the seventh inning and pitched both the seventh and the eighth. He allowed no runs and did not allow a hit, but both walked and struck out one Mallards' hitter. With the win, Tukey moves to 3-0 on the season, and has more wins than any other pitcher thus far in the Northwoods League this season.

Kristian Calibuso (Eastern Michigan) pitched a scoreless ninth, something that Battle Creek fans have grown accustimed to this season, to earn his league-leading fourth save. Prior to Saturday, Calibuso was tied with Madison's Zach White (Wake Forest) for the league lead in saves.

Overall, the Mallards had four hits and were led by Jon Pierre "Jumpy" Garcia (Texas A&M-Corpus Christi). Jumpy had two of the four hits for the Ducks, including a ninth inning single that started a threat of a comeback. Micahel Handel (Minnesota) and Tyler Jones (Long Island) had the other two hits for the Mallards, who fall to 6-4 and 1.5 games back of Battle Creek with the loss.

"When our team has a good intensity level, we are capable of anything," Labbe said. "Tonight we tried to do too much and got a little too anxious. In baseball, things go against you more times than not, so you have to learn how to deal with what's been given to you and move forward. The guys have the will to win, and once we get the hang of things, we'll get back on track."

Leadoff hitter Zac Zellers (Heartland Community College) came across as the only run for the Mallards back in inning number one.

Zellers' college teammate Jerad Grundy (Heartland Community College) replaced Bores in the sixth and pitched two innings. Grundy (0-2) gave up the go-ahead and eventual game-winning run in the seventh on a hit by Dan Dispensa (Western Illinois). Dan Tobik (Tennessee-Martin) pitched a scoreless eighth for a nice inning of work.

"Jerad pitched great," said Labbe. "Right now, he's on the end of tough luck. Sooner or later, the ball will bounce his way and he'll start to rack up wins, holds, and saves the way I know he can."

Troy White (Northern Illinois) and Brett Wiley (Evansville) also contributed to the win for Battle Creek by having two hits apiece.

The Mallards will look to rebound tomorrow afternoon as they take on the Bombers in game two of the three-game set at 4:05 p.m.



Northwoods League Stories from June 11, 2011


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