Northwoods Madison Mallards

Mallards drop second straight at home

June 10, 2011 - Northwoods League (Northwoods)
Madison Mallards News Release


MADISON, WI - June 9, 2011. The Madison Mallards played host to the Waterloo Bucks and suffered a defeat 4-2 Thursday night in front of a season-high 6,553 fans at the new "Duck Pond."

Waterloo sent the Mallards' faithful home unhappy by hitting their spots on the pitcher's mound.

The duo of starter Mike Wisecarver (Nicholls State) and reliever Shane Broyles (Seminole State Community College) combined for two runs on six hits, three walks, and eleven strikeouts. Broyles got the win by going three scoreless innings. He struck out five of the last six batters he faced to move to 1-0 on the season.

"Our guys didn't see the ball well tonight," said Mallards' field manager Greg Labbe. "When Broyles came in, he pounded the zone with fastballs and we tried to do too much."

The Mallards had only two extra base hits on Thursday and failed to get multiple hits in seven of the nine innings played.

"You can get all the hits you want in baseball," said Labbe, whose team out-hit the Bucks 6-4. "However, the only hits that really matter are the ones you get with runners in scoring position. We can't rely on the long ball."

The Mallards' pitching staff was equally impressive.

Starter Chris Burgess (Blackhawk College) went seven strong innings, allowing two runs on two hits. He walked one and struck out four. The lone mistakes that were made were three fastballs that the Bucks golfed for home runs.

Jeremy Lucas (Indiana State) and Jordan Adams (Central Michigan) hit solo shots in the second inning, and Drew Walsh went yard in the eighth with a solo round tripper of his own.

"They hit all the right spots," said Labbe. "The wind helped some fly balls leave the yard, but they got timely hits and we didn't." New Mallards' reliever Jerad Grundy (Heartland Community College) took the loss after going one inning giving up two runs. He fell to 0-1 on the year.

One of the highlights of the entire Northwoods League season thus far was a spectacular diving catch made by Niko Fraser (Elon) in right field. Fraser had a long way to run to catch up to a fly ball in the middle stage of the game and made a dive that saw his body go perfectly perpendicular to the ground.

"That play was just the beginning for Niko," said Labbe. "I've seen him make that play since he was in high school. I would've been more surprised if he didn't make that catch. He's a special player and Mallards' fans will love watching him this summer."

Game two of this brief two-game set will be tomorrow night at the "Duck Pond" with the first pitch scheduled for 7:05 p.m. Make-up with Wisconsin Announced The Mallards are pleased to announce that the make-up of the postponed game with the Wisconsin Woodchucks from Wednesday, June 8th has been rescheduled to Tuesday, June 28th. The Mallards and Woodchucks will play two seven inning games.

Fans that purchase tickets for the originally-scheduled game on the 28th will be allowed admittance to both games.

The Mallards would like to remind all fans that in the event of a rainout, ticket stubs from the postponed game will be honored at future Mallards' games based on availability.

For specific ticket information, please call the Mallards at (608) 316-DUCK (3825).



Northwoods League Stories from June 10, 2011


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