WAUSAU, WI. – Madison’s Brian Kroll silenced the Wisconsin Woodchucks’ bats as he tossed a one-hitter to lead the Mallards to a 3-0 victory over the Wood-chucks on Sunday at Athletic Park.

“It feels really good,” Kroll said. “I was locating my fastball.”
Stephen Holdren managed the Woodchucks’ lone hit, a broken-bat single to center in the third inning.

“He located his fastball and was hitting his spots,” Madison catcher Javier Sanchez said. “When a pitcher is doing that, he is keeping the rhythm of the game going, the umpire going and so you start getting calls that are a little outside that aren’t strikes. He kept the umpire in it and kept the game flowing. He got in a groove and never got out of it.”

Madison manager Darrell Handelsman said his pitcher and catcher worked well together.

“Against a team that was 11-1 in the second half, playing well and can swing the bats, (Brian) was awesome today,” Handelsman said. “Javy did a great job calling the game and Brian was ahead in the count consistently, aggressive and didn’t back down.”

Kroll struck out nine and walked one. He didn’t allow a runner past second and the last 13 batters he faced were retired in order.

“It is pretty amazing,” Sanchez said. “You come out here and work with a kid like that, and I feel just as much a part of this one-hitter as he does. He went out there and threw his heart out. I think I called a decent game. I tip my hat to him because he pitched it where I asked.”

Wisconsin first baseman Kyle Bohm said the Woodchucks’ offense just couldn’t catch any breaks.

“We were waiting for that one big hit,” Bohm said. “We hit three or four balls hard that could have been doubles, but they hung up there and guys ran under them. We hit balls right at people.

“We were a little lethargic tonight. We didn’t have that normal zip. We just couldn’t get anything early. A lot of times we’ll score three or four early and that will get us going. We didn’t do that today.”

Wisconsin manager Steve Foster said he isn’t worried about his offense responding after managing a lone hit.

“I can’t say tomorrow we’ll be back,” Foster said. “When we’ve had nights like this in the past, I haven’t said a word and they come out as professionals. Getting one-hit in a game is not a reason to panic.”
The Mallards opened a one-run lead in the first when Kyle Yates drove a single into center field to score Doug Beck, who reached on an infield single.

Madison added to the lead in the fifth on Josh Wettlaufer’s safety squeeze bunt.

“They were hitting choppers through the infield and bunting,” Bohm said. “They manufactured runs. It wasn’t our day today.”

The Mallards had an opportunity to blow the game open in the eighth as they loaded the bases with no outs. But, they only scored one run as Wisconsin starter Matt O’Brien worked out of the jam.

“We were a little more conservative today, we bunted a few times and straight sacrifice bunted where normally we might not do that,” Handelsman said. “But, I felt with Brian, they weren’t going to get too many runs. We didn’t need to play for five or six so we were playing for two or three. We had a chance in the eighth to break it open and we didn’t. It would have made it easier for Brian.”

For his effort, Kroll was named the Northwoods League Player of the Night. The Mallards will take on the Woodchucks again tonight in Wausau before returning home on Wednesday to play the Waterloo Bucks.