THE DUCK POND ? Some early morning rain on Saturday has not dampened the spirits of the Madison Mallards who are flying high right now. The Mallards won for the third straight time last night, dropping the Thunder Bay Border Cats 4-1 in front of a big crowd of 4,262.

Ducks outfielder Kevin Sevigny was 2-2 with 3 stolen bases and 2 runs scored to help pace the offense. On the other side of the ball, Mallards starter John Olson looked good going 7.1 innings and allowing just 1 run on 4 hits.

?We executed well in this game,? added Mallards Manager Darrell Handelsman, ?we were able to steal some bases, play solid defense, and even had a suicide squeeze work. When we play like this we?re awfully tough to beat.?

Despite the victory, the Ducks dropped another half-game behind the front-running Rochester Honkers who swept a doubleheader against Alexandria. The Mallards now trail the Honkers by two games for the first half title with seven games to go.

An overflow crowd is expected to help the Mallards drive for the title tonight as the Ducks once again host the Cats. An early game time of 5:05pm is slated to accommodate the Rhythm & Booms fireworks show. All ticket holders are invited to stick around after the game for the best seats in Warner Park for the big show.

Plus, it is also Movies in the Outfield Night presented by SITEL. Tonight, after the fireworks, the Mallards will be showing the Bad News Bears on the big screen so that you don?t have to fight through traffic.

The gates open this afternoon at 3pm for Mallards Happy Hour, all hot dogs, soda, and tap beer will be half price until 5pm. A limited number of tickets are available for tonight?s game.