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Northwoods Madison Mallards

Early First-Place Battle as Mallards Face Bombers in Michigan

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


MADISON, WI - After a homestand that saw the team go 1-2 with a rain-out, the Madison Mallards are back on the road as they take on the Battle Creek Bombers at C.O. Brown Stadium on Saturday. The three-game series begins tonight and stretches until Monday, and it features a battle of the top two teams in the South Division of the Northwoods League. Madison sits one-half game behind Battle Creek at 6-3, whereas the Bombers are 7-3.

After being in an offensive slump during the first two games of their homestand, the Mallards' bats came alive on Friday night as they erupted for seven runs on eleven hits against Waterloo. The team even scored four runs in an inning, which were more than what the team scored in their first loss to the Bucks.

Hoping to keep the bats going against the Bombers are Mike Hollenbeck (Illinois State), Tyler Jones (Long Island), Nate Theunissen (Central Michigan), Mike McQuillan (Iowa), and Niko Fraser (Elon). All five of these Mallards' hitters are in the top 25 in terms of batting average in the entire Northwoods League and have recently made extensive contributions to the Madison offense.

"The key to beating Battle Creek is the same key that we use for all of our opponents," said hitting coach Luis Raffan. "We focus on being very aggressive, but we have to get guys on base. Our pitching will hold up; it's been great all year. Now, it's the offense's turn to be on-point."

The Battle Creek offensive attack is equally (if not more) impressive.

Although the Bombers only have three guys in the top 25 in terms of average, all three of those hitters have better averages than Hollenbeck, the Mallards' top hitter.

Led by Troy White (Northern Illinois), Matt Hitt (Eastern Michigan), and Dan Dispensa (Western Illinois), the Bombers score an average of 5.3 runs, 10.1 hits, and 13.2 total bases per game. The Mallards average 4.9 runs, 9.3 hits, and 13.7 total bases per game.

"There's no doubt that the series this weekend will be exciting," said Mallards' field manager Greg Labbe. "I know it's early, but it's always fun to get the chance to play a top team in the division. This will also give us a good chance to see where we are at as a unit."

Ryan Bores (Cuyahoga Community College) will throw for the Ducks tonight. Bores had a stellar debut for Madison in his last start on June 4th. He went six complete innings allowing only two runs on two hits. Bores was the winning pitcher in the Mallards' 14-2 win over La Crosse.

Pitching for Battle Creek will be Joe Battistelli (Eastern Michigan). He has started twice already for the Bombers, going 1-0 with a 5.73 ERA in eleven innings pitched. Battistelli earned his first victory in his first start on opening day against Waterloo.

First pitch at C.O. Brown Stadium is scheduled for 6:05 p.m.



Northwoods League Stories from June 11, 2011


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