THE DUCK POND — Several Ducks are flying high this Spring, but few are soaring as high as former Madison Mallards outfielder Nathan Panther.

Panther, from Muscatine College in Iowa, played for the Ducks back in 2001. Mostly holding down left field, Panther hit .298 in twelve games for the Mallards. Now, Panther is trying to claw his way onto the Cleveland Indians team.

A 15th round draft pick, Panther split last season between Lake County (A) and Akron (AA) and is projected to start the 2004 season in AA with the Akron Aeros. You can catch more on the former Duck at: http://cleveland.indians.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mlb/news/mlb_batting_around.jsp?ymd=20040112&content_id=626986&vkey=baround&fext=.jsp