Wausau Beats Rivals Madison in Tight First Meeting

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Northwoods Wausau Woodchucks

Wausau Beats Rivals Madison in Tight First Meeting

June 5, 2025 - Northwoods League (Northwoods)
Wausau Woodchucks News Release


WAUSAU, WI- After Wausau was eliminated by the Madison Mallards in postseason play last year, the Woodchucks came into 2025 seeking revenge against their rivals. In their first shot at the Mallards in 2025, they delivered- claiming a 6-5 win on Thursday night to open the season series.

The win was Wausau's first one-run victory of the season, and it broke Madison's four game win streak in the process. With the win, Wausau is now tied with Madison atop the Great Lakes West standings. Madison, on the other, hand, has now lost three games this season, each of them by one run.

The Woodchucks started the game on the back foot, with Madison taking a 3-0 lead early after two runs in the top of the first, and a run in the top of the second.

However, for the second straight night, Wausau battled back from its deficit. The Woodchucks got on the board in the bottom of the second. After Easton Quigley (BYU) reached on an infield single, and Anthony Quigley (USF) laced a double right after him, Jake Weatherspoon (Indian River State College/Virginia) brought the first run in on a sacrifice fly. Then, Christian Smith-Johnson (Texas A&M-CC) hustled out an infield single to earn an RBI to make it 3-2. It was a play that should have been a routine out, but Smith-Johnson made it a tough play and ultimately beat it out to score what would be a key run for the Woodchucks.

The Chucks then got hot in the fifth and got the big inning they needed on offense. Wausau put four runs up on the Mallards in the frame, with RBI base hits from Weatherspoon, Charlie Longmeier (Evansville) and Dylan Schlotterback (Paris JC/Kansas) leading the way. Noah Malone (Loyola Marymount) also had a key double early in the inning. In his first start with the Woodchucks this season, he went 2-4 at the plate and had a stolen base.

That's all the runs the Woodchucks would need on the night. While Madison's Thomas Curry hit a two-run home run in the sixth to cut the Woodchuck lead to one, the Wausau pitching staff shut them down from there. Brayden Mazzacano (Illinois) pitched a clean 1.2 innings in relief, and Reece Clapp (Bradley) shut the door again late. The Woodchucks closer picked up his league-leading third save of the season, by retiring all six Mallards he faced in another six-out save.

Another pitcher who also performed was Landon Sexton (USC Upstate). In his first pitching appearance in more than a month, Sexton came out of the bullpen early and pitched 4.1 innings, only surrendering two runs and struck out three. He was the pitcher of record on the night for Wausau, earning his first Northwoods League win.

While Wausau did strand 10 runners in the win, they kept Madison off the base pads as well. After getting out of a bases loaded jam in the first, only seven more Mallards reached in the game. After Madison's two home runs in the sixth, Wausau retired the final 11 batters in a row to hold the one-run win. Sexton, Mazzacano and Clapp ended up combining for 8 strikeouts

Once again, Wausau put runners in motion, and it helped the offense move. Wausau stole seven bases on the night, and forced three Madison errors, the most by the Mallards in a game this season. Wausau also had three infield singles in the win, using hustle and heart to force their way ahead against their rivals.

Tomorrow, the Woodchucks and Mallards will meet again at Athletic Park, the first Firework Friday of the year for Wausau. First pitch in round two between the two sides will be at 6:35 p.m. Catch all the fun action this summer at Athletic Park by purchasing tickets on woodchucks.com.



Northwoods League Stories from June 5, 2025


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