Northwoods Madison Mallards

Mallards Defeat Rafters 4-2 on Opening Night

Published on June 2, 2011 under Northwoods League (Northwoods)
Madison Mallards News Release


WISCONSIN RAPIDS, WI - June 1, 2011. The Madison Mallards opened the 2011 Northwoods League season in exciting fashion, defeating the Wisconsin Rapids Rafters 4-2 at Witter Field Wednesday Night. The team combined for 16 total hits on the night and was very aggressive on the bases, compiling four stolen bases and three sacrifice hits. The win was not only the first for the Mallards, but the first for new Field Manager Greg Labbe since leading the Rochester Honkers a few years back.

"We hit the ball hard tonight," Labbe said. "We took a very aggressive approach in every offensive area and generated a lot of good scoring opportunities."

Setting the table for those opportunites was centerfielder Niko Fraser (Elon), who went 3-5 and scored the Mallards' first two runs of the game. Mike McQuillan (Iowa) also made a solid contribution, going 4-5 at the dish with a stolen base and a run scored.

Taking advantage of the hitters before him was clean-up hitter Tyler Jones (Long Island University). Jones went 4-4 with a sacrifice fly, leading the way for a potent Mallards offense that went 16-35 (.457 average) on the night.

"I was lucky enough to get into favorable hitter's counts tonight," said Jones, who also made some spectacular plays as catcher. "Once I had the counts I was looking for, I was able to get into a solid mindset and make some good contact."

Second-year Mallards pitcher Rusty Shellhorn (Texas Tech) got the start for the Mallards and did not disappoint, earning the victory. Shellhorn pitched five strong innings, allowing only two runs on five hits. He walked two and struck out six Rafters batters.

"It felt good to get out there and see some game action," said Shellhorn, who sat out last season for Texas Tech due to NCAA transfer regulations. "I had some pre-game jitters, but I also had good command and velocity early on, which helped to settle me down."

Shellhorn also got the nod from Labbe due to his prior Northwoods League experience.

"We got exactly what we wanted to get out of Rusty tonight," Labbe said. "He was within his pitch count range and he did a phenominal job of pitching to contact."

Also contributing in the Mallards' win were pitchers Nick Sutherland (Minnesota State - Mankato) and Zach White (Wake Forest). Sutherland pitched innings six through eight and White came in for a one-two-three ninth to notch his first save. Collectively, the two relievers pitched four strong innings, allowing no runs on four hits with one walk and five strikeouts.

Leading the way for the Rafters was first baseman Josh Cyr (North Alabama), who took advantage of Shellhorn's biggest mistake of the night and lined a two-run home run to left field in the fourth inning. Bobby Martin (Valparaiso) also led the offensive attack for Wisconsin Rapids as the only hitter for the Rafters to tally multiple hits.

Brian Hill (Eastern Michigan) took the loss for Rapids. Hill surrended all four Mallards runs in a little over four innings of work. He gave up ten hits, walked three, and struck out zero batters.

"Rapids is a tough team full of a lot of talent," Labbe said. "They threw a lot of tough situations at us tonight but we made plays when we had to and once our guys settled down, we played with a lot of confidence."

The Mallards (1-0) will once again play the Rafters (0-1) tomorrow evening at Witter Field, with first pitch scheduled for 7:05 p.m.

By the Numbers:

With the win, the Mallards are now 6-5 all-time on opening day. This is also the second time the Mallards have won back-to-back season openers in team history, duplicating the 2007 and 2008 accomplishment.

The second hitter in the Mallards lineup reached base safely in all nine innings, going 8-8 with a walk.

The Mallards left ten runners on base, the Rafters left nine.

The heart of the Mallards' order (2-3-4 hitters) went 11-15 on the night, good for a combined .733 batting average and two RBI.

The Madison Mallards are members of the 16-team summer collegiate Northwoods League and will play a 70-game schedule in the new-and-improved "Duck Pond" beginning on Opening Day, June 7th against the Wisconsin Woodchucks at 7:05p.m.

Single-game tickets for the 2011 season are now on sale! Fans can purchase tickets one of three ways: 1) online, 2) over the phone by calling the ticket office at 608.316.DUCK (3825), or 3) in-person at the "Duck Pond" weekdays 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. & 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. on Saturday's. Group tickets, including hospitality areas perfect for company outings are on sale as well.

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