Northwoods Madison Mallards

Madison Falls in Home Finale, Sets New Attendance Record

August 13, 2011 - Northwoods League (Northwoods)
Madison Mallards News Release


MADISON, WI - The Madison Mallards fell 8-7 to the Wisconsin Woodchucks Friday night in front of 6,750 fans at the "Duck Pond." The game was the 2011 home finale for Madison, which sold out the newly-renovated ballpark for the 11th time this summer.

The game had every component imaginable and proved to be quite entertaining in the process.

Mother Nature delayed the start of the game by a little over an hour, as rain poured down on the playing surface. Once the game got started, the playing conditions were quite comfortable and very playable, and it became clear that the game would go down to the final wire.

The Woodchucks got the scoring started with a run in the very first inning. Cody Regis (UCLA) scored on a base hit by Dimitri De La Fuente (Cal-State Fullerton) to give Wisconsin the lead.

Madison would quickly answer with one in the second inning when college teammates Willie Argo and Justin Parr, both out of the University of Illinois, hit back-to-back doubles to start the frame.

Tied at 1-1, both teams scored two runs in the third and traded one-run blows in the fourth, with the most notable run being produced on a solo home run by Wisconsin's Carlos Escobar (Nevada - Reno), who homered for the second straight night.

After the game's first scoreless inning in the fifth, the Woodchucks broke the game open with four runs in the sixth. Wisconsin's had a streak of four consecutive at-bats that produced a hit, with three of the hits being doubles. Derek Peterson (Olney Central Junior College), Escobar, Regis, and Austin Coleman (Cal-State San Marcos) all scored in the inning to bring the lead to 8-4.

The Mallards showed once again that they would not go down easy. After Jordan Owen (Tennessee - Martin) led off the inning with a hit-by-pitch, Andrew Barna (Davidson) singled, and Matt Mirabal (Illinois State) belted a three-run home run, his second of the season, to left-center field.

After the offensive explosion however, no more runs would follow for the remainder of the game.

Mallards' starter Chris Lamb (Davidson) was tagged with his fourth loss of the season after going 5.1 innings. Lamb (0-4) allowed seven runs (six earned) on 11 hits, and walked two with seven strikeouts.

Woodchucks' starter Justin Burns (UC - San Diego) only went three innings after pitching against the Mallards just a few days back. He allowed three runs on three hits and did not tally a walk or strikeout. The win went to Anthony Drobnick (Washington State), who finished the final three innings of the game without allowing a run while notching five strikeouts.

In all, 25 hits were collected by the two teams, with Wisconsin having 15 of them. The Woodchucks were led by Coleman, who was 3-for-5 with two RBI and two runs scored. Escobar and Regis also had three hits, an RBI, and two runs scored each. De La Fuente was the other batter to have multiple hits in the game. Wisconsin's first four hitters in the lineup went 11-for-19 with four RBI and six runs scored. Garrett Yrigoyen (Nevada - Reno) also drove in multiple runs.

Madison was paced by Mirabal, who was 2-for-4 with four RBI and two runs scored. Mike McQuillan (Iowa), Argo, and Parr also collected two hits in the loss.

With the win, Wisconsin snapped a nine-game losing streak and prevented a three-game sweep. Madison dropped back to .500 at 16-16 on the second half and 37-30 overall. The final home record for the Mallards is 20-15.

With the home portion of the schedule now complete, the Mallards will travel to Battle Creek to take on the Bombers at C.O. Brown Stadium to round out the entire season schedule. Saturday's game will start at 6:05 p.m. and Sunday's season finale will get underway at 4:05 p.m. Tom Windle (Minnesota) will pitch game one for the Mallards, and Jonathon Crawford (Florida) will start on Sunday.

Attendance Record Set! With a packed house of 6,750 fans in Friday's home finale, the Mallards set a new team-high for single- season attendance. This season, 213,467 of the Northwoods League's finest came through the turnstiles at the "Duck Pond," good for an average of 6,278 fans per game. The new mark breaks the previous record set in 2007, when the team drew over 207,000 fans. The 2011 attendance also breaks the record previously held by the Mallards in all of summer college baseball.

Mallards MLB/Alumni Game The Mallards will once again be hosting an MLB/Alumni game at the "Duck Pond" this season. The game will take place on Sunday, August 14 with the headlining appearance being made by baseball's all-time hits leader Pete Rose. The game will begin at 5:05 p.m. with gates opening at 3:00 p.m. Rose and the rest of the players will be signing autographs prior to the game.



Northwoods League Stories from August 13, 2011


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