Madison, Wis. – The Madison Mallards have announced the signing of a pair of freshman hurlers from two reputable power-five universities. Dustin Saenz (Texas A&M) and Ryan Kutt (Illinois) will both be heading to Madison after their first seasons against top-level collegiate competition.
Saenz, a 5-foot-11 lefty from Corpus Christi, Texas, is set for his first season in College Station after a high school career full of success. Saenz was a four-year letter winner at King High School in Corpus Christi and was named Second-Team All-State after his senior year in 2017. He held a 7-4 record and a 1.19 ERA while racking up 133 strikeouts in 76.1 innings during his senior campaign.
Overall, Saenz struck out 1.7 batters per inning during his last two high school seasons. His high school dominance led to him being named the seventh-best 2017 southpaw in Texas according to PerfectGame.
Kutt, a 6-foot-3 righty from Orland Park, Ill., joins fellow Mallard Ryan Schmitt at the University of Illinois this season. Kutt started on varsity at Brother Rice High School during all four seasons of his high school career and was eventually named to the 2017 Collegiate Baseball All-American first team. Kutt was a highly-touted recruit as he was named Chicago Catholic Blue Conference Player of the Year during both his junior and senior seasons.
Kutt also boasts a variety of accolades from club teams and camps as he has been named to Louisville Slugger All-American teams and has participated in the upper levels of Area Code Baseball competition. Kutt will look to make an impact with the Fighting Illini this spring before heading to the Duck Pond.
Madison Mallards group and season ticket packages are now on sale. If interested in bringing a group out or purchasing a ticket package please call the ticket office at 608-246-4277 and a group representative will be available to help.
Single-game tickets for all Mallards home games will go on sale Saturday, April 28th.
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The Madison Mallards are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. Entering its 25th anniversary season, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 20 teams, drawing significantly more fans, in a friendly ballpark experience, than any league of its kind. A valuable training ground for coaches, umpires and front office staff, more than 185 former Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist (CHC) and Brandon Crawford (SFG) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (BOS), Jordan Zimmermann (DET) and Curtis Granderson (TOR). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League portal. For more information, visit www.mallardsbaseball.com or download the new Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play and set the Mallards as your favorite team.